Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC)

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) is the elected body that manages the historic gurdwaras of Delhi under the Delhi Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1971. Its general house meets at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib.

How it began: the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says the SGPC took charge of Delhi's historic gurdwaras in 1923 and formed an 11-member Delhi Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. After 1947 its authority was challenged in the courts and on the ground, and in 1971 the government handed management to a five-member Gurdwara Board by ordinance. Parliament then passed the 1971 Act, and the DSGMC was formed after elections held in 1974.

Structure: it has 55 members, 46 elected by Delhi's Sikhs and 9 co-opted, who elect an executive board. It manages nine historic gurdwaras, among them Sis Ganj, Rakab Ganj, Bangla Sahib and Moti Bagh, and five others. The Encyclopaedia's older figures give four degree colleges, eleven schools, a technical institute and a hospital.

Key moments

• 1 November 1984: a mob attacked Gurdwara Rakab Ganj and, The Tribune reports, two Sikhs were burned to death and the shrine set on fire. The Nanavati Commission found that the police posted there did nothing to stop it. Congress leader Kamal Nath denies instigating the crowd and says he went to the gurdwara to calm it. The Commission declined to find that he had instigated the mob. Lawyer H.S. Phoolka says the case against him is strong because Nath admitted being there.
• 15 January 2017: the Wall of Truth, a memorial to the Sikhs killed in November 1984, opened at Rakab Ganj, inaugurated by the widows of five victims while Manjit Singh GK was DSGMC president.
• 22 August 2021: the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) won 27 of 46 seats, SAD (Delhi), the Sarna group, 14, JAGO 3, and an independent and Panthic Akali Lehar one each. Manjinder Singh Sirsa lost his Punjabi Bagh seat to Harvinder Singh Sarna.
• 22 January 2022: Harmeet Singh Kalka was elected president at Rakab Ganj after a deadlock of more than ten hours, with 28 votes. Manjit Singh GK alleged that Delhi Police evicted 21 members, including him and the Sarna brothers.
• 25 June 2025: Kalka was re-elected president with Jagdip Singh Kahlon as general secretary. The opposition led by Paramjit Singh Sarna and Manjit Singh GK boycotted the election, which Kalka and Kahlon said was because the opposition lacked members.

Where it stands: Kalka's group controls the executive board. The Sarna and GK factions are in opposition.