History Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee

1 history

1.1 gurdwaras act of 1925
1.2 1953 amendment gurdwaras act of 1925
1.3 2016 amendment gurdwaras act of 1925

history

in 1920 emerging akali leadership summoned general assembly of sikhs holding shades of opinion on november 15, 1920 in vicinity of akal takht in amritsar. purpose of assembly elect representative committee of sikhs administer harimandir sahib complex , other important historical gurdwaras. 2 days before proposed conference british government set own committee consisting of 36 sikhs manage harimandir sahib. sikhs held scheduled meeting , elected bigger committee consisting of 175 members , named shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee. members of government appointed committee included in it. harbans singh attari became vice president , sunder singh ramgarhia became secretary of committee. time master tara singh had started taking interest in sikh religious affairs. 1 of 175 members elected committee. formation of shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee provided focal point movement reformation of sikh religious places. committee began take on management of gurdwaras 1 one, , resisted incumbent mahants.

starting in late 1920, large number of reformers both in urban , rural punjab had joined form separate , independent religious orders called jathas. primary purpose of jatha gain control on local gurdwaras. jatha under command of jathedar occupy shrine , try take on management in favor current incumbents. transfer went peacefully in case of smaller gurdwaras less income resources. done threat of force.

the sikh leadership aware of importance of press success of movement. enlisted active support , sympathy of of important nationalist papers in country independent , swaraj (hindi), tribune, liberal, kesri (urdu), milap (urdu), zamindar (urdu) , bande matram (hindi).two of vernacular dailies akali (pbi.) , akali-te-pardesi (urdu), edited master tara singh played important role. brought necessary awakening among sikh masses , prepared them undertake struggle reform.with direct , indirect support of central sikh league, indian national congress , shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee, shiromani akali dal started non-violent struggle against government control of gurdwaras. reports of immoral acts perpetrated @ tarn-taran reached shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee @ meeting on january 14, 1921. fortnight earlier local jatha beaten , not allowed perform kirtan @ gurdwara. decided send jatha amritsar under jathedar teja singh bhuchar. jathedar kartar singh jhabbar akalis khara sauda bar joined him. on january 25, group of forty workers took on control of sri darbar sahib tarn-taran mahant. in ensuing conflict 2 akalis killed , several others wounded henchmen of mahants. mahants ousted gurdwara , shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee appointed managing committee.

gurdwaras act of 1925

at same time malcolm hailey, governor of punjab showed readiness assist sikhs in taking possession of important gurdwaras in province through five-member committee constituted sikh members of legislative council. hailey presented draft of new gurdwara bill akali leaders imprisoned in lahore fort. master tara singh, bhag singh advocate, gurcharn singh advocate, teja singh akerpuri(jathedar akaltakht sahib) sohan singh josh , sardar teja singh samundri studied each clause of bill carefully. bill met akali demands , passed law on july 28, 1925 governor general of india after ratification punjab legislative council. act came force on november 1, 1925 gazette notification government of punjab. according act central gurdwara board elected sikhs custodian of all-important sikh places of worship. first meeting of gurdwara board passed resolution designation changed shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee, accepted government. ended came known in common parlance third sikh war . punjab government withdrew orders declaring shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee , other akali organs unlawful associations , recognized shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee representative body of sikhs. in making punjab government agree such recognition, akali leadership undoubtedly scored victory on bureaucracy. sikh gurdwara bill met of demands of sikhs, government willing release prisoners conditionally i.e. on understanding given akalis agree work gurdwara act. shiromani akali dal , executive declared conditions imposed release of prisoners wholly unnecessary, unjust , derogatory. among prominent akalis, mehtab singh , giani sher singh along twenty other akali leaders accepted conditional release. master tara singh, bhag singh advocate, teja singh samundari, teja singh akerpuri (jathedar akal takht)and fifteen other akalis did not come out government emphasis on eliciting written assurance , acceptance master tara singh, attack on self-respect of sikhs. said, ourselves have enacted act , responsible implementing it, why condition? teja singh samundari died of heart attack in jail after time. punjab government failed prove charges against master tara singh , remaining akalis, few months later released unconditionally. courage , sacrifice shown akalis during trial drove mehtab singh s group out of political field , led rift in akali ranks, newly released akalis condemned mehtab singh s group collaborators. mehtab singh s group known rai bahadur party . group had majority in committee , mehtab singh elected president. akali party launched campaign against conditionally released leaders. when new elections shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee held, akali party won majority , newly elected shiromani gurdwara parbandhak committee elected kharak singh president , master tara singh vice president. since baba kharak singh had not yet been released responsibility of president fell on shoulders of master tara singh.

1953 amendment gurdwaras act of 1925

in 1953, amendment 1925 act allowed reservation of 20 out 140 seats on sgpc members of sikh scheduled castes

2016 amendment gurdwaras act of 1925

the 2016 amendment act indian parliament stripped around 7 million ‘sehajdhari’ sikhs of voting in sgpc elections