Jalandhar: Unlike the competitiveness and bitterness seen on the 350th anniversary of Guru Teg Bahadur's martyrdom, political adversaries Congress, Akalis, and different Sikh quarters came together in 1975 to observe the 300th anniversary of the ninth Sikh master — a time when the Emergency was in place and Akalis were part of the agitation against it.
To mark the occasion, a grand religious function was organised at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, and Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi also addressed it in the presence of senior Akali and other Sikh leaders. "Emergency was in place and quite a few senior Akali leaders were in jail, but still, for the sake of observing the tercentenary of Guru's martyrdom, there was coordination at such a level that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,
Akali Dal leaders, Punjab govt, and Indira Gandhi's central govt could come together to mark the occasion," said former MP Tarlochan Singh, a confidante of the then CM, late Giani Zail Singh, and who was joint secretary of Markfed at the time.
Tarlochan Singh said SGPC took out a procession from Anandpur Sahib to Delhi in which Giani Zail Singh, SAD leaders Sant Harchand Singh Longowal and Surjit Singh Barnala, SGPC leader Kirpal Singh Chaksherewala, and the then Punjab and Sind Bank chairman, Inderjit Singh, were among the leading dignitaries. "After a couple of night stopovers, the procession reached Delhi. I even accompanied Sant Longowal in his vehicle. Then in Delhi, a joint function was held at Ramlila Maidan, in which PM Indira Gandhi, Giani Zail Singh, the then DSGMC president Jaswant Singh Kochhar, Longowal, and other Akali leaders sat together on the stage and addressed it," he said.
Former DSGMC president and SAD leader Manjit Singh GK attended the same function as an adolescent. "I remember Indira Gandhi saying she came from the clan of Pandit Kirpa Ram, who led the delegation of Kashmiri Pandits to Guru Tegh Bahadur. She also acknowledged that it was a mammoth gathering," recalled GK, whose father, the late Santokh Singh, was a top SAD leader of Delhi and was playing a crucial role in holding the function. "Even my father's relations with Punjab-based SAD leaders had soured only a few months before this mega event, but they came together for holding it," he said. "At the martyrdom function at Gurdwara Sis Ganj, Delhi, in 1968, Gandhi announced to give Kotwali land to Gurdwara Sis Ganj. Half of the Kotwali land was transferred to the gurdwara in 1975 and then the remaining half in 1980," Manjit recalled.
Former DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna remembers reaching the Ramlila Maidan around 5.30am, with his brother and few other young Sikh men from his neighbourhood, as the function was to start early. "One vivid memory is of us opposing the presence of policemen with shoes on in the pandal, as Guru Granth Sahib was to be in place, who then had to step out. Then kirtan was performed by Bhai Dharam Singh Zakhmi. The discourse he delivered about the Guru and his three disciples' martyrdom brought alive the scene of the torture and their execution. It is still fresh in my mind," Sarna recalled.
He recounted that Barnala and the then Jatha Bhindran (Damdami Taksal) head Sant Kartar Singh, in their lectures, opposed the Emergency in Indira Gandhi's presence. "Barnala was arrested soon after the mega event," he said.
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Joint procession in 1973 on Guru Gobind Singh Marg
In 1973, the then Punjab CM Giani Zail Singh-led Congress govt and Akalis got together for a big procession on the newly constructed Guru Gobind Singh Marg in Delhi. The CM undertook its construction, and memorial gates were erected on its way. There were differences and strong political considerations, but after persuasion and arguments, both sides agreed to come together, which left good memories, and both sides received credit as well. The then SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra's account of his meeting with Zail Singh in the presence of other prominent Sikh intellectuals: the arguments from each side; how the Akalis came on board, has been recorded in the recently published book ‘Sabat Kadmi Nange Pairi Sidki Safar', which is based on his conversations with the late Punjabi author and intellectual, Prof Piara Singh Bhogal, and has been edited by activist Malvinder Singh Mali. CM Zail Singh and Tohra were together in an open jeep to lead the procession.
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