Damdami Taksal splits over who succeeds Baba Thakur Singh

Who: Baba Thakur Singh, acting head of the Damdami Taksal since June 1984, who died on 24 December 2004 aged 89; Bhai Ram Singh, a former Golden Temple priest and aide of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale; Baba Harnam Singh Khalsa, known as Dhumma; and the SGPC under its president, Bibi Jagir Kaur, with the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti.

What: On 6 June 2003 the Akal Takht Jathedar and the SGPC announced that Bhindranwale had been martyred in Operation Blue Star. Baba Thakur Singh and some Taksal members had earlier said he had escaped and would reappear. On 18 June 2003 the Tribune reported that an emergency meeting in the USA, presided over by Thakur Singh, had named Ram Singh, a nephew of Sant Kartar Singh Khalsa, the 13th Jathedar, as the Taksal's 15th Jathedar. Vedanti later said the Akal Takht's secretariat had a fax of 17 June 2003 from Gurdwara Tresy (USA) in which Thakur Singh appointed Ram Singh. The Taksal spokesman, Bhai Mohkam Singh, alleged forged signatures, showed a video he said showed Thakur Singh avoiding signing, and said a letter signed for Ram Singh on 17 June had been withdrawn two days later. Bhai Manjit Singh, a senior Akali leader, and his supporters said the video was doctored.

After Thakur Singh's death Dhumma was nominated acting Jathedar. On 31 December 2004 the Sikh high priests and the SGPC decided at an emergency meeting in Amritsar to recognise the breakaway group led by Ram Singh, which holds that Bhindranwale was killed in Blue Star. On 1 January 2005 Bibi Jagir Kaur told Mohkam Singh that the decision could not be altered. It rested on the fax, and recognising Dhumma, she said, would defy the SGPC's and Akal Takht's declaration that Bhindranwale was a martyr. Parkash Singh Badal, president of the SAD (Badal), was reported to back Ram Singh. On 2 January 2005 the Takht jathedars and the SGPC presented dastars to Ram Singh. The same day Dhumma was anointed acting Jathedar at Chowk Mehta, with Rajinder Singh Mehta, an adviser to the SAD (Badal) and an SGPC member, and leaders of Akali factions accepting him.

Where: Amritsar and Chowk Mehta in Amritsar district, where Dhumma was anointed.

Why it mattered: The Tribune called it the first split in the Taksal in 35 years, recalling that after Baba Gurbachan Singh's death the SGPC had recognised Sant Mohan Singh Bhindran, while Sant Kartar Singh became the mainstream head. The split lasted. A Tribune report of June 2017 describes three rival centres: Dhumma's at Mehta Chowk, Ram Singh's at Sangrawan near Batala, and another at Bhura Kohna in Tarn Taran.