Panthic Pratinidhi Board

The Panthic Pratinidhi Board was the Sikh representative body formed in June 1946 to decide how the Panth should answer the Cabinet Mission's proposals. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says a Sikh convention presided over by Mohan Singh Nagoke, Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, met at Teja Singh Samundri Hall in Amritsar on 9 and 10 June 1946, rejected the proposals published on 16 May and set the Board up as an action committee. The convention drew over a thousand Sikhs, among them Akalis, Congress Sikhs, Nirmalas, Namdharis, Nihangs and youth leaders. The Board's president was Colonel Niranjan Singh Gill of the Indian National Army. Its members included Master Tara Singh, Baldev Singh and Bhai Jodh Singh, and representatives of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Ramgarhia Federation, the Chief Khalsa Diwan, the Namdhari Darbar, the Nirmala and Nihang groups and the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee.

Key moments

• 9 and 10 June 1946: the convention rejected the Cabinet Mission's proposals, and its resolution said the Sikhs would accept no constitution that failed to meet their just demands.
• 13 June 1946: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel invited Gill and other Board leaders to Delhi to ask them to reconsider, the Encyclopaedia says.
• 16 to 22 June 1946: the Cabinet Mission announced a plan for an interim government and the Viceroy invited Baldev Singh to join as the Sikh representative. Gurmit Singh writes that the Board rejected the plan and directed Baldev Singh not to join the interim government. The Encyclopaedia dates the Board's refusal to let any Sikh serve on the existing basis to 22 June. Baldev Singh wrote to Prime Minister Attlee, who replied that the statement of 16 May could not be changed to accommodate the Sikhs but urged them to take part in the Constituent Assembly instead of boycotting it.
• 10 July 1946: the Board reaffirmed its boycott of the Constituent Assembly, the Encyclopaedia says.
• 9 or 10 August 1946: the Congress Working Committee appealed to the Sikhs to reconsider and promised "all possible support" and adequate safeguards. The Encyclopaedia dates this to 9 August at Wardha, Gurmit Singh to 10 August.
• 14 August 1946: the Board lifted its embargo and advised Sikh members of the Punjab Assembly to elect representatives to the Constituent Assembly and press for safeguards.
• 8 September and 4 November 1946: Gill resigned on 8 September, and the withdrawal of some members on 4 November signalled the Board's dissolution, the Encyclopaedia says.

Khushwant Singh also writes of a Panthic Pratinidhi board, representing all parties except the Communists, constituted to fight the elections that followed the trials of the Indian National Army officers at the Red Fort.

Where it stands: The Board lost influence and, by the Encyclopaedia's account, had dissolved by the end of 1946.