12_chapter v.pdf

strongly demanded that the Government should immediately withdraw that
ban. Then a resolution was passed declaring Damdama Sahib Talwandi
Sabo, (Bathinda) the Fifth Takht of Guru Khalsa. It was recommended that
the Jathedar of Damdama Sahib be deemed member of SGPC in the
Gurdwara Act so that there was no legal hurdle in future. 116
Another resolution in connection with the restriction imposed by the
British Transport Company on the use of turbans by the Sikhs was a matter
of serious concern and regret. The meeting of the SGPC expressed strong
resentment against that. The English were not ignorant of the religious
‘Roah Reet’ of the Sikhs. They knew that turban was a religious symbol of
the Sikhs and any restriction on it was unbearable to them. It was sad that
despite knowing that, they had imposed that restriction. This meeting drew
the Indian government’s attention to this issue. It demanded that it should
hold talks at the High commissioner’s level and got the restrictions removed
by the British Government. 117 In a brief speech, Giani Bhupinder Singh
pointed out that grave injustice had been done to the Sikhs by cleverly
excluding Bhakhra Dam, Chandigarh and some Punjabi speaking areas from
the Punjabi Suba formed after so many sacrifices made by them. The Central
Government should have immediately handed over these areas to Punjab
without putting forward any excuses. So, a resolution in this connection was
passed and forwarded in the form of demand charter to the centre
government. 118 This general meeting of the SGPC firmly demanded that the
Governments of Jammu-Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and
Rajasthan should assign a suitable place to Punjabi in these states and make
116 Ibid.
117 Ibid.
118 Ibid.
201