NEW DELHI: Members of the Unified Akali Dal staged a coup of sorts when they captured the governing bodies of three prestigious Sikh colleges and dislodged supporters of the Akali Dal (Tara Singh) here on Sunday.

The UAD (Badal) removed the governing bodies of Mata Sundari College for girls and Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College headed by Mr. Jaswant Singh Sethi and Mr. Gurnam Singh, respectively, both belonging to the Akali Dal. In their place they installed Mr. Avtar Singh Hit, President of the Delhi unit of the UAD and Headmaster Sucha Singh a General Secretary of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) as Chairman of the governing bodies of these two colleges.

The governing body of Sri Guru Govind Singh College for Commerce headed by Mr. Jaswant Singh Kalka has been retained. He also happens to be the President of the DSGMC.

The UAD replaced Jathedar Rachhapal Singh, President of the Akali Dal (Tara Singh) who himself was a governing body member of Mata Sundari College.

Along with Jathedar Rachhpal Singh, his supporters in the governing bodies have also been replaced by members of the UAD.

The changes in the setup of the governing bodies were approved by the Executive Council of Delhi University at its meeting on Sunday. The university made these changes on the recommendations of the DSGMC which runs these colleges and other institutions in the Capital.

These changes in the governing bodies have surprised the observers of Sikh politics in the Capital to a considerable extent. The observers had anticipated that the Akali Dal would gain a political clout again after it patched up with Union Home Ministry Buta Singh.

The most disturbing feature according to Jathedar Rachhpal Singh, is that the Delhi University

Executive Council approved these changes at its extraordinary meeting on a holiday. It met and approved changes in the governing body knowing fully well that these persons had offered siropas to the family members of the killers of Mrs. Indira Gandhi and also attended bhog ceremonies of militants in Punjab.

Article extracted from this publication >>  March 17, 1989