Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee

Sri Akal Takht Sahib
Abbreviation	SGPC
Formation	16 November 1920
Type	Management Organisation
Headquarters	Teja Singh Samundri Hall, Sri Harmandir Sahib Complex, Sri Amritsar
Location	Sri Amritsar, Punjab, India
President	Jagir Kaur
Website	http://sgpcamritsar.org

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (or SGPC; “Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee”) is an organization in India responsible for the management of gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in three states of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh and union territory of Chandigarh. SGPC also administers Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.

The SGPC is governed by the president of SGPC. The SGPC manages the security, financial, facility maintenance and religious aspects of Gurdwaras as well as keeping archaeologically rare and sacred artifacts, including weapons, clothes, books and writings of the Sikh Gurus.

Bibi Jagir Kaur became the first woman to be elected president of the SGPC for the second time in September 2004. She had held the same post from March 1999 to November 2000.

History

Main article: Akali movement

Foundation

In 1920 the emerging Akali leadership summoned a general assembly of the Sikhs holding all shades of opinion on 15 November 1920 in vicinity of the Akal Takht in Amritsar. The purpose of this assembly was to elect a representative committee of the Sikhs to administer the Harimandir Sahib Complex and other important historical gurdwaras. Two days before the proposed conference the British government set up its own committee consisting of 36 Sikhs to manage the Harimandir Sahib. Sikhs held their scheduled meeting and elected a bigger committee consisting of 175 members and named it Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The members of the government appointed committee were also included in it. Harbans Singh Attari became vice president and Sunder Singh Ramgarhia became secretary of the committee. By that time Master Tara Singh had started taking interest in Sikh religious affairs. He was one of the 175 members elected to the committee. The formation of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee provided a focal point for the movement for the reformation of Sikh religious places. The Committee began to take over management of gurdwaras one by one, and were resisted by incumbent mahants.

Starting in late 1920, a large number of reformers both in urban and rural Punjab had joined to form separate and independent religious orders called jathas. The primary purpose of a jatha was to gain control over local gurdwaras. A jatha under the command of a jathedar would occupy a shrine and try to take over management in its favor from its current incumbents. Sometimes the transfer went peacefully especially in the case of smaller Gurdwaras with less income resources. This was done sometimes with the threat of force.

The Sikh leadership was fully aware of the importance of the press for the success of any movement. It enlisted the active support and sympathy of some of the important nationalist papers in the country like 'The Independent', Swaraj (Hindi), The Tribune, Liberal, Kesri (Urdu), Milap (Urdu), Zamindar (Urdu) and Bande Matram (Hindi).Two of the vernacular dailies Akali (Pbi.) and the Akali-te-Pardesi (Urdu), edited by Master Tara Singh also played an important role. It brought the necessary awakening among the Sikh masses and prepared them to undertake the struggle for reform. With the direct and indirect support of the Central Sikh League, the Indian National Congress and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the Shiromani Akali Dal started a non-violent struggle against the government for the control of the Gurdwaras. The reports of some immoral acts perpetrated at Tarn-Taran reached the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee at its meeting on 14 January 1921. A fortnight earlier a local jatha was beaten up and not allowed to perform kirtan at the gurdwara. It decided to send a jatha from Amritsar under Jathedar Teja Singh Bhuchar. Jathedar Kartar Singh Jhabbar with Akalis from 'Khara Sauda Bar' joined him. On 25 January, a group of about forty workers took over the control of Sri Darbar Sahib Tarn-Taran from its Mahant. In the ensuing conflict two Akalis were killed and several others wounded by the henchmen of the Mahants. The Mahants were ousted from the Gurdwara and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee appointed a managing committee.

Gurdwaras Act of 1925

Main article: Gurdwaras Act of 1925

In early 1920s, Malcolm Hailey, the governor of the Punjab showed his readiness to assist the Sikhs in taking possession of all the important Gurdwaras in the province through a five-member committee constituted by the Sikh members of the legislative council. Hailey presented a draft of a new Gurdwara Bill to the Akali leaders imprisoned in Lahore fort. Master Tara Singh, Bhag singh Advocate, Gurcharn singh Advocate, Teja Singh Akerpuri(Jathedar AkalTakht Sahib) Sohan Singh Josh and Sardar Teja Singh Samundri studied each clause of the bill carefully. The bill met all the Akali demands and was signed into law on 28 July 1925 by the Viceroy of India after its ratification by the Punjab legislative council. The Act came into force on 1 November 1925 with a gazette notification from the government of Punjab.

The Act made a Central Gurdwara Board elected by the Sikhs to be the custodian of all important Sikh places of worship. The first meeting of the Gurdwara board passed a resolution that its designation be changed to Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which was accepted by the government. Thus ended what came to be known in common parlance as the 'Third Sikh War'. The Punjab government withdrew its orders declaring the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and other Akali organs as unlawful associations and recognized the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee as a representative body of the Sikhs. In making the Punjab government agree to such recognition, the Akali leadership undoubtedly scored a victory over the bureaucracy. The Sikh Gurdwara bill met most of the demands of the Sikhs, but the government was willing to release the prisoners conditionally i.e. on the understanding to be given by the Akalis that they would agree to work for the Gurdwara Act. The Shiromani Akali Dal and the executive declared conditions imposed for the release of prisoners as wholly unnecessary, unjust and derogatory. Among the prominent Akalis, Mehtab Singh and Giani Sher Singh along with twenty other Akali leaders accepted the 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 as government emphasis on eliciting written assurance and acceptance was to Master Tara Singh, an attack on the self-respect of the Sikhs. He said, "We ourselves have enacted this Act and we are responsible for implementing it, then why this condition?" Teja Singh Samundari died of a heart attack in the jail after some time. The Punjab Government failed to prove the charges against Master Tara Singh and the remaining Akalis, few months later they all were released unconditionally. The courage and sacrifice shown by the Akalis during the trial very soon drove the Mehtab Singh's group out of the political field and led to a rift in the Akali ranks, as the newly released Akalis condemned Mehtab Singh's group as collaborators. Mehtab Singh's group was also known as 'Rai Bahadur Party'. This group had majority in the committee and Mehtab Singh was elected its President. The Akali Party launched a campaign against the conditionally released leaders. When the new elections for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee were held, the Akali Party won majority and the newly elected Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee elected Kharak Singh as the President and Master Tara Singh as the Vice President. Since Baba Kharak Singh had not yet been released the responsibility of the president fell on the shoulders of Master Tara Singh.At the time of 1996 the first time SGPC election is held in Himachal Pradesh and the first person who won from that seat is the candidate of panthak akalidal whose name is Satnam Singh Gill.

1953 amendment to Gurdwaras Act of 1925

In 1953, an amendment to the 1925 act allowed the reservation of 20 out 140 seats on the SGPC for the members of the Sikh scheduled castes

2016 amendment to Gurdwaras Act of 1925

The 2016 amendment to the act by the Indian parliament stripped around 7 million ‘Sehajdhari’ Sikhs of voting in the SGPC elections

Presidents

President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
Incumbent Jagir Kaur since 27 November 2020
Style	Jathedar
Appointer	Members of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
Inaugural holder	Sundar Singh Majithia
Formation	12 October 1920 (1920-10-12)
Website	sgpcamritsar.org

The president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) is elected by the Members of SGPC. The president holds powers to organise the meetings of SGPC and deal with matters related with issues of Sikh religion and oversees the managements of the Gurdwaras. Since 2008, the president also serves as Chancellor of Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University.

In 1920 SGPC was established when Gurdwara Reform Movement was started. Sundar Singh Majithia was appointed first President of the committee. This post got legal status after the passing of Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 by legislation in British India.

After passing of this act Baba Kharak Singh became the President. The longest served President of SGPC till now is Gurcharan Singh Tohra and shortest served one is Gopal Singh Qaumi who served onle for One day in June 1933. The first and the only woman and also incumbent President is Jagir Kaur .

List of presidents

S. No.	Name	Portrait	Tenure
Before Sikh Gurdwara Act (1920-1926)
1	Sundar Singh Majithia		12 October 1920	14 August 1921
2	Kharak Singh		14 August 1921	19 February 1922
3	Sundar Singh Ramgarhiya	N/A	19 February 1922	16 July 1922
4	Mehtab Singh	N/A	16 July 1922	27 April 1925
5	Mangal Singh	N/A	27 April 1925	2 October 1926
After Sikh Gurdwara Act (1926-till now)
(2)	Kharak Singh		2 October 1926	12 October 1930
6	Tara Singh		12 October 1930	17 June 1933
7	Gopal Singh Qaumi		17 June 1933	18 June 1933
8	Partap Singh Shankar	N/A	18 June 1933	13 June 1936
(6)	Tara Singh		13 June 1936	19 November 1944
9	Mohan Singh Nagoke		19 November 1944	28 June 1948
10	Udham Singh Nagoke		28 June 1948	18 March 1950
11	Chanan Singh Urara	N/A	18 March 1950	26 November 1950
(10)	Udham Singh Nagoke		26 November 1950	29 June 1952
(6)	Tara Singh		29 June 1952	5 October 1952
12	Preetam Singh Khuranj	N/a	5 October 1952	18 January 1954
13	Ishar Singh Majhail		18 January 1954	7 February 1955
(6)	Tara Singh		7 February 1955	21 May 1955
14	Bawa Harkrishan Singh		21 May 1955	7 July 1955
15	Gian Singh Rarewala		7 July 1955	16 October 1955
(6)	Tara Singh		16 October 1955	16 November 1958
16	Prem Singh Lalpur	N/A	16 November 1958	7 March 1960
(6)	Tara Singh		7 March 1960	30 April 1960
17	Ajit Singh Bala	N/A	30 April 1960	10 March 1961
(6)	Tara Singh		10 March 1961	11 March 1962
18	Kirpal Singh 'Chak Sherewal'	N/A	11 March 1962	2 October 1962
19	Sant Chanan Singh	N/A	2 October 1962	30 November 1972
20	Mohan Singh Tur		30 November 1972	6 June 1973
21	Gurcharan Singh Tohra		6 June 1973	23 March 1986
22	Kabal Singh	N/A	23 March 1986	30 November 1986
(21)	Gurcharan Singh Tohra		30 November 1986	28 November 1990
23	Baldev Singh Sibiya	N/A	28 November 1990	13 November 1991
(21)	Gurcharan Singh Tohra		13 November 1991	16 March 1999
24	Jagir Kaur		16 March 1999	30 November 2000
25	Jagdev Singh Talwandi		30 November 2000	27 November 2001
26	Kirpal Singh Badungar		27 November 2001	27 July 2003
(21)	Gurcharan Singh Tohra		27 July 2003	31 March 2004
27	Alwinderpal Singh Pakhoke	N/A	1 April 2004	22 September 2004
(24)	Jagir Kaur		23 September 2004	22 November 2005
28	Avtar Singh Makkar		23 November 2005	4 November 2016
(26)	Kirpal Singh Badungar		5 November 2016	28 November 2017
29	Gobind Singh Longowal		29 November 2017	27 November 2020
(24)	Jagir Kaur		27 November 2020	Incumbent

See also

• Jathedar of Akal Takht
• Chief Khalsa Diwan
• Balwant Singh Nandgarh
• Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee

Further reading

• Dilgeer, Dr Harjinder Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal (1920–2000), Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2000
• Dilgeer, Dr Harjinder Singh, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Kiven Bani (Punjabi), Amritsar, S.G.P.C., 2001.
• Dilgeer, Dr Harjinder Singh, Sikh Twareekh 5 volumes (Punjabi), Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2007.
• Dilgeer, Dr Harjinder Singh, Sikh History, 10 volumes (English), Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2010–11. 10 volumes (English)

External links

• Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee
• Bibi Jagir Kaur
• Sikh history book by SGPC
• Sikh history book
• SGPC Explained