The Sikh Panth stands at a historical turning point.
The Akali Dal was born out of the Gurdwara Reform Movement of 1920 and according to Mahankosh, “Akali is the one who is related to Akal, the lotus is always in the water of Maya, the one who is friendly to everyone, the one who is the most unique, who earns by doing, who considers begging as haram, who accepts adversity as happiness, who is the watchman of the Gurdwaras without selfishness, who rises to fight for religion with a red face, who worships no other god but Akal, so let us say ‘Akali’ is the name of the Sikh Dashmesh.”
Sikh leaders had formed this organization to make sacrifices for the Gurdwara Reform Movement. This organization had made great sacrifices for Gurdwara Reform and freed the Gurdwara Sahibs from the government occupation being carried out by the Mahants. With the enactment of the Sikh Gurdwara Act in 1925, the Gurdwara management had received legal recognition, and the Gurdwara management was transferred to the hands of the common Sikhs as a local Committees and central Gurdwara management came. Earlier, Gurdwara management was with local committees only. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee used to supervise it primarily, but gradually under Section 85 of the Shiromani Gurdwara Act, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has so far taken over the management of 78 historical Gurdwaras and about 300 Gurdwaras are in Punjab, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh which are managed by local Gurdwara Parbandhak Committees.
After the Guru period, the central place of Sikh leaders became Sri Akal Takht Sahib Sri Amritsar, where the Singhs used to unanimously deliberate on Gurmat and formulate policies, then they would sacrifice their lives to implement them. In this way, these Jathas and Misls established their political dominance in Punjab in the 18th century and by the beginning of the 19th century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh had established this strong Sikh state. Even today, Sikhs living all over the world follow the orders and instructions given by Sri Akal Takht Sahib. The organization of the Panj Pyares, which was created by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Sahib to lead the nation, is now the Jathedars of the five Takhts, i.e. the Singh Sahibs of Takht Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Takht Sri Hazur Sahib and the Head Granthi of Sri Darbar Sahib, meet through the Panj Pyares when necessary, formulate policies and take national decisions.
The Somni Akali Dal, which came into existence during the Gurdwara Reform Movement, soon became an ally of the Congress for the country’s independence and started participating in active politics. The leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal also became the presidents of the Gurdwara Management Committee. In this way, Sikh politics and Sikhism were combined. In the three-nation formula that was formed for the partition of India before the country’s independence, the Sikh community was led by the leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Muslims who joined the talks with the British were led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Muslim League. The Gurdwara Management Act made in 1925 was related to the old Punjab in which committees of Pakistan, Haryana and Delhi have been formed. Thus, there is no central Sikh leadership in religious form, from 1956 to 1998, the demand for an All India Gurdwara Act has been made by the Shiromani Gurdwara Management Committee and the Akali Dal, this demand is also part of the Rajiv-Longowal agreement of 1985. But when its draft was prepared and sent by the government of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the AGPC. Instead of accepting it and giving it practical form, this demand was stopped, perhaps someone understood that with this, all the Sikhs of India will be united and the dominance of one faction will not be possible.
Even after independence, only the representatives of the Shiromani Akali Dal have been directly participating in the elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Management Committee and even today many Akali leaders are members and office bearers of the Shiromani Gurdwara Management Committee. Many parties including the Congress have been indirectly contesting the elections of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee by forming factions. But the office bearers of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee have been becoming leaders associated with the Akali Dal and most of the Akali fronts have been starting with prayers from Sri Akal Takht Sahib.
As far as the propagation of Sikhism is concerned. A strong effort was made in 1936, when, inspired by Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Sikh leaders formed an organization called the Sarbhind Sikh Mission to establish propagation centers across the country and established centers in places like Hapur, Aligarh (U.P.), Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh), Nagpur (Maharashtra) and Ernakulam and Rani (Kerala), but gradually these institutions and centers seem to be closed and no other efforts are being made for propagation.
According to the Mahankosh, the definition of a Sikh is “A person who is a follower of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who has embraced the Sikh religion of Satguru Nanak Dev, who considers Sri Guru Granth Sahib as his scripture, knows the ten Satgurus as one form, believes in the 10 Gurus and Sikhism is called a Sikh. According to Gurmat, “Puja Akal Ki, Parcha Shabad Ka Didar Khalsa Ka” is the life test of a Sikh. The Guru’s command is: ‘Rehini Rahai Soi Sikh Mera. He Thakur Mai Uska Chera.’ So, in Sikhism, it is also mandatory to live life according to Gurmat. A person who does not follow the Guru’s orders and does not live life according to the morals of Sikhism is called a Manmukh.
The Guru’s command is also “Rahit Bina Sukh Kabhu Na Lahai. Tante Rehit Su Dridh Kar Rahai.” According to the rules, many great people in history have been declared as salaried, meaning they have been required to perform religious service, due to disobedience or mistakes in life. Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji married a Muslim woman.Such punishment was imposed on such people, some controversial orders were also issued during the British period. Due to non-fulfillment of the prayers made in this way, many leaders were ordered to perform religious service, some political leaders including Giani Zail Singh, former President, S. Buta Singh, former Home Minister, S. Surjit Singh Barnala, former Chief Minister of Punjab also had to appear at Sri Akal Takht Sahib. Many people have been paid by the Panj Singh Sahib for following religious rules and this process is also continuing continuously. Because it is natural for a person to violate morality knowingly or unknowingly.
