Themes

SGPC

The committee that runs the historic gurdwaras, and the politics that run the committee.

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  1. 1920-1925Akali movement for gurdwara reformFrom 1920 to 1925 Sikhs took their historic gurdwaras back from hereditary priests and government control through mass morchas, ending in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act 1925 and the SGPC.
  2. Feb 20, 1921Nankana Sahib MassacreA jatha of 150 Sikhs was attacked at Gurdwara Janam Asthan on 20 Feb 1921; 82 to 156 killed by varying counts. Narain Das was sentenced to death, cut to life on 3 Mar 1922.
  3. Nov 1921-Jan 1922Keys Morcha (Morcha Chabian) over the Golden Temple keysIn November 1921 the government seized the keys of the Golden Temple treasury. Mass arrests followed, and on 19 January 1922 the keys were handed to Baba Kharak Singh at Sri Akal Takht Sahib.
  4. Aug 1922Guru Ka Bagh MorchaFrom Aug 1922 Akali jathas were beaten without raising a hand; 5,605 Sikhs went to jail before the garden was leased in Nov 1922 and the prisoners freed in Apr 1923.
  5. Jul 1923-Aug 1925Jaito Morcha for the Maharaja of Nabha and the Gangsar akhand pathAfter the Maharaja of Nabha was forced to abdicate in July 1923, Akali jathas marched to Jaito for two years, were fired on in February 1924, and ended the morcha in August 1925.
  6. Jul 7, 1925Sikh Gurdwaras ActThe Sikh Gurdwaras Act, passed on 7 July 1925 and in force from 1 November 1925, listed 241 historic gurdwaras in Schedule I for a Central Board, later the SGPC.
  7. 1927Shaheed Sikh Missionary CollegeFounded to honor 1921 Shaheeds
  8. Oct 13, 1935Ambedkar declares at Yeola that he will not die a HinduDr B.R. Ambedkar told a Dalit conference he would leave Hinduism. The SGPC answered with a Sikh mission and a 1936 conference at Amritsar; he finally chose Buddhism in 1956.
  9. Apr 1936Ambedkar-SGPC talks at AmritsarAmbedkar addressed the SGPC's Sikh Mission conference at Amritsar in April 1936, but he and his followers ultimately did not adopt Sikhism.
  10. Feb 3, 1945Sikh Rehat Maryada standardizedAuthoritative Sikh conduct code
  11. Jan 1965SGPC electionsFateh Singh's 90-45 victory conclusive
  12. Nov 22, 1967Master Tara Singh diesEnd of Partition-era Akali leadership
  13. Oct 30, 1972Sant Fateh Singh diesEnd of the Sant Fateh Singh era
  14. 1973Tohra elected SGPC PresidentFirst of about 27 terms as SGPC President; the last ended with his death in office in 2004
  15. Oct 16-17, 1973Anandpur Sahib Resolution adoptedFoundational Akali political document
  16. Jan 26, 1986Sarbat Khalsa at Sri Akal Takht SahibPanthic Committee constituted; SGPC declared dissolved
  17. 1996Moga DeclarationAkali Dal redefined from Panthic to Punjabi
  18. 1997SAD-BJP alliance; Badal becomes CMPanthic party allied to Hindutva
  19. Jul 2004Akal Takht edict against the RSS and Rashtriya Sikh SangatIn July 2004 the Akal Takht told Sikhs to keep away from the RSS and its Sikh wing, the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat. The Akal Takht reaffirmed the edict in 2017.
  20. Aug 2005Manmohan Singh apologises in Parliament for 1984Cases reopened; the senior accused still go unconvicted
  21. 2007Dera Sacha Sauda imitation controversyAkal Takht acts against Ram Rahim; the Dera backs Congress that year
  22. 2007, 2012Second and third Badal governmentsPeak institutional capture of SGPC
  23. Sep 24, 2015Akal Takht pardons Gurmeet Ram RahimHighest Sikh authority seen operated by a party
  24. Nov 2015Sedition FIR names 20 organisers; SGPC voids resolutionsStatute defeats assembly
  25. Nov 10, 2015Sarbat Khalsa at ChabbaOver a lakh by same-day count; 13 resolutions; bound nobody
  26. Jun 2020 onward328 saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib missing from SGPC recordsAn Akal Takht inquiry found 328 saroops unaccounted for in 2020. Only after Bhai Baldev Singh Wadala's morcha of more than five years did police register an FIR, in December 2025.
  27. 2021 onwardChristian conversion among Dalits in Punjab's border villagesReports from 2021 show Mazhabi Sikh and Valmiki families turning to churches in Punjab's border belt, and the SGPC and Akal Takht answering with a campaign. The numbers are disputed.
  28. Aug 30 and Dec 2, 2024Akal Takht declares Sukhbir Badal tankhaiya, then pronounces his tankhahInstitution judges its former operator
  29. Feb 5-16, 2025US military deportation flights land at AmritsarThree US military planes brought more than 330 deported Indians to Amritsar in February 2025. Many were Punjabis, and Sikh deportees on the second flight said their turbans were taken.
  30. May 7-10, 2025India-Pakistan confrontation of May 2025 and its toll on PunjabAfter the Pahalgam attack, India and Pakistan traded strikes for four days. Punjab saw drones, a family killed at Ferozepur, shut borders and a still-closed Kartarpur corridor.
  31. Aug-Sep 2025Punjab's worst floods since 1988Record August rain and heavy dam releases flooded the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi plains in August and September 2025, submerging nearly 1,900 villages and reaching Kartarpur Sahib across the border.
  32. Jan 14-20, 2026CM Mann's 169 saroops claim at Muktsar and the government's U-turnsMann said the SIT had found 169 of the 328 missing saroops at a shrine near Banga. The shrine denied it, and within days his Finance Minister twice changed the government's line.
  33. Apr 13-19, 2026Punjab passes a stricter sacrilege law, the Jaagat Jot Satkar Amendment ActThe Vidhan Sabha unanimously raised penalties for sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib to 20 years, or life for conspiracy. The Akal Takht objected that Sikh bodies were not consulted.
  34. Jun 24-30, 2026Maharashtra clears repeal of the 1956 Hazur Sahib Act, then puts it on holdThe Maharashtra cabinet approves replacing the law that governs Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded; the Takht issues a gurmata against it and the state shelves the draft after a week.
  35. Jun 29, 2026Akal Takht summons every Sikh MLAFirst time all appeared together; one-month deadline on the sacrilege law
  36. Jul 22, 2026Rajoana writes to the Akal Takht to summon the BJP's Sikh leaders over his mercy petitionBhai Balwant Singh Rajoana asked the acting Jathedar to summon the BJP's Sikh leaders over a mercy petition pending about 15 years, or else have the SGPC withdraw it.
  37. Oct 13, 2026Anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota killed in MansaJathedar declares him shaheed on Oct 16

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