AMRITSAR: Mr Baldev Singh Sibia was unanimously elected president of the SGPC by the general house at its annual meeting held at Teja Singh Samundari Hall in the Golden Temple complex last week.
Th name of Mr Sibia (53), a practicing lawyer, was proposed by the outgoing SGPC chief, Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who in tum was empowered by the three “major Akali Dal factions to make appointments of the other SGPC office bearers and the 11 members of the executive committee with the consent of the house. The unanimous decision authorising Mr Tohra was taken by senior leaders of the Akali Dals headed by Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Mr Tota Singh at a meeting in the Burial jail.
This is the first time in the 65yearold history of the SGPC that all office bearers and members of the executive committee have been replaced. This time the entire executive has been recast, and that too without any voting.
After the appointments were approved by the house, a beaming. Mr Tohra told the members: “The choice of names has emerged from my conscience and does not reflect any factionalism”.
Mr Tohra had kept all his plans a closely guarded secret till the last moment, He revealed that he did not even sound the new office bearers and executive members before deciding to induct them.
Akali Dal (B) leader Sukhjinder Singh sprang a surprise at the meeting by announcing that Mr Tohra had decided to relinquish charge as SGPC president.
In their brief message read out by Mr Sukhjinder Singh, leaders of the three Akali factions said they had made a request to Mr Tohira to Continue 4s SGPC chief in view of the current crisis faced by the Panth.
However, Mr Tohra, the message said, had decided to relinquish the office “for paving the way for Panthic unity”.
Keeping in view the long and selfless services of Mr Tohra for the Panth, all Akali Dals, the message said, had reposed faith in him and empowered him to make the new appointments. The leaders urged the house to unanimously endorse the names chosen by Mr Tohra. Those who attended the meeting in Burail’ jail’ included Mr Mann, Mr Badal, Mr Tota Singh, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Mr Kuldip Singh Wadala and Mr Sukhinder Singh.
Immediately after Mr Sukhjinder Singh’s speech, an SGPC member, Mr Onkar Singh Nangal, moved a resolution lauding Mr Tohra’s contribution to the cause of the SGPC and the Panth, The resolution paid tributes to the leadership of Mr Tohra and his “unparalleled” sacrifice to pull the Panth out of the present crisis.
In his emotional but assertive speech; Mr Tohra said he had been requesting his colleagues to relieve him of the responsibility of the SGPC affairs for the past few years.
“ I was feeling tired after serving the SGPC for 18 years.”
Justifying his decision to relinquish the office, Mr Tohra said: “Now time has come for making a small sacrifice for a better future of the Panth.”
Mr Tohra said he had infused new life into the Sikh Students Federation by elevating Mr Amrik Singh for the post of president before Operation Bluestar.
The SGPC under his leadership, he said, had weathered many storms.
Mr Tohra alleged that the government had been making consistent efforts to dismantle and disgrace the SGPC and set up a board to manage the affairs of gurdwaras. The attacks and killing of SGPC members, attempts to make them resign under threat and discrediting of the religious organisation were parts of a larger conspiracy by certain antiPanthic forces, he said.
Mr Tohra congratulated the SGPC members for thwarting all attempts to weaken the organisation and facing the challenges posed from time to time.
Mr Tohra, in a choked voice, thanked the SGPC members for extending him full support, cooperation and affection during his tenure as president.
Thereafter Mr Tohra announced the names of the new office bearers and executive members.
Immediately after the declaration of his name, Mr Baldev Singh Sibia went up to the dais and bowed his head before Guru Granth Sahib.
In his brief speech, Mr Sibia said he was the last person to consider himself fit for the post of president of the SGPC. “I will do my best to discharge the responsibility placed on my shoulders with the help and cooperation of the house,” he said.
Mr Tohra’s successor is a lesser known personality. Even as an active member of the SGPC executive since 1979 Mr Sibia had been maintaining a low profile. He has been a close confidant of Mr Tohra.
Born in 1937 at Nand garh village in Mukstar Tehsil, Mr Sibia graduated from a Jalandhar college and got his degree in law from Punjab University, Chandigarh, in 1961.
Mr Sibia headed panels for suggesting internal reforms in the SGPC.
Through a resolution, the house expressed deep anguish and grief at the desecration of the holy books at Jalandhar and Delhi and termed these incidents as calculated attempt to create a communal divide in Punjab and elsewhere,
Article extracted from this publication >> December 14, 1990
