Sikh Sadbhawna Dal

The Sikh Sadbhawna Dal (SSD) is a Panthic reform group led by Bhai Baldev Singh Wadala, who was a Hazoori Ragi at Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. It presses the SGPC over its management of gurdwaras and the custody of Sri Guru Granth Sahib saroops.

How it began

In 2015 the SGPC appointed a chief secretary, and Wadala led protests against the post. On 11 September 2015 a transfer order sent him to Gurdwara Nauvin Patshahi in Jind, Haryana, for "speaking against the organization and indulging in indiscipline." He said his loyalty was to the Guru and the Guru's principles, not to the SGPC or any individual. By March 2016 Sikh Siyasat reported that the SGPC had suspended him, though his companion Bhai Iqbal Singh told Sikh Siyasat that "they" had been facing a suspension-like situation for six months already. He said the SGPC had not recorded their attendance or paid their salary in that time. The report does not say who else "they" covers. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said Wadala was working against the Panth's interests by defaming the SGPC.

On 22 March 2016, at a Sikh Sadbhawna Dal conference at Anandpur Sahib, Wadala called for a movement to reform gurdwara administration and compared the group controlling the SGPC to the notorious Narainu Mahant.

The 328 saroops

The Dal's main campaign has been for criminal action over 328 saroops missing from the SGPC's publication records. An Akal Takht panel had indicted about 12 SGPC officials and staff, but the Dal said no criminal proceedings followed.

• 4 November 2020: the Dal and Gurdwara Akal Bunga begin a sit-in on Heritage Street, near Sri Harmandir Sahib.
• January 2021: the Dal's activists gherao the Amritsar police commissioner's residence.
• August 2022: an indefinite dharna near Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's residence in Sangrur is lifted by police overnight. Wadala said protesters were bussed to Patiala jail. He asked the Centre for President's rule in Punjab and a CBI inquiry, and said the saroops were in the SGPC's possession. These are the Dal's claims.
• 7 December 2025: Amritsar Police register an FIR against 16 people, including former SGPC chief secretary Roop Singh, under IPC sections 295, 295-A, 409, 465 and 120-B. Wadala said he was satisfied.
• 14 December 2025: an Amritsar court gives six former SGPC employees protection from arrest until 18 December.

The SGPC, speaking through its president Harjinder Singh Dhami on 11 December 2025, called the FIR a "direct challenge" to the Akal Takht and government interference. It said the matter was financial misappropriation by some employees, not sacrilege, and that action had been completed under the Akal Takht's directives.

Where it stands today

In June 2024 Wadala also announced a political party, the Sher-e-Punjab Dal, at Chandigarh Press Club, with the release of Sikh prisoners, freeing the SGPC from factions and justice in sacrilege cases among its stated aims.