The Multifarious Faces of Sikhism
throughout Sikh History
Page 4 of 5
Panch
Khalsa Diwan cont'd
Indeed many Akali Nihangs and Nirmala Sikhs
of the 'Samparda Bhindra' (popularly known as
‘Dam Dami Taksal’)
also looked upon Teja Singh Bhasauria as an
agent of the British Raj.
Baba Gurbachan Singh Khalsa
Successor to Sriman 108 Baba Sundar Singh Nirmala,
of Samparda Bhindra who spent the greater part
of his
life ensuring that the 'Bhai Randhir Singh da
Jatha' did not succeed in removing the 'Raagmala'
from Adi Guru Durbar
The elderly Samparda Bhindra preacher, Giani
Gurdev Singh comments:
‘The English had very
clever people. In their eyes, only the Sikhs
could rise up [against the British authorities].
If anyone can cause trouble or rebel, [they
thought], then the Sikhs can overthrow our
Raj. Even though they had on all fronts,
established their fierce authority, their
laws were very harsh. Even then they tried
to buy of some people from amongst the Sikhs
- so as they could start off such a thing
which would cause splits in the Sikh nation.
They [British] first contacted Teja
Singh Bhasauria. They gave him money to
open, at that time a girl’s school,
and then a printing press. At that
time, no one possessed that much money but
they had the backing of the government then
……. That is why he started this
- that ‘Raagmala’ is not Sikh
scripture.’
Giani Gurdev Singh, transcript of interview
on October 2001
In his lifetime, the infamous Teja Singh Bhasauria
never came before the Akal
Takht, and died in ignominy. On May 3rd 2001,
his grandson Manmohan Singh Sidhu
and his wife Balwinder Kaur,
appeared before the Akal Takht on behalf of
‘Babu’ Teja Singh and his wife Niranjan
Kaur.
Akal Takht
Watercolour of the Akal Takht, by William Simpson,
circa 1860
They were then declared ‘Tankhias’
(apostates) and ordered to perform penance of
one reading of Adi Guru Durbar, and offer ‘Karah
Parshad’ to the value of 101
Rs. On completion of the penance, an ‘Ardas’
was done was done at Akal Takht, and the late
Teja Singh Bhasauria and his wife were once
more inducted into Sikhism by S.G.P.C.
