INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

trustee to another newly founded committee by the Sikhs, simply because members
of the old management were dying out. The name of the new committee was called
Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Kashi and later changed the name to Sikh Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee Banares (SGPCB). The official day of transfer was December
27 in 1942. 168 The board members of the new management committee for Gurubagh
and Nichibagh gurdwaras were no longer “sadhus” but Sikh professionals and
businessmen. For instance, Ram Narayan Singh, an advocate, held the post as vice
president, and Sundar Singh, a doctor who ran a clinic at Visheshwarganj, worked as
the general secretary. 169 The gurdwara committee was officially registered at the Municipal
Corporation in 1951. From this year all gurdwara buildings related to Nichibagh
and Gurubagh were under the management of the local independent Sikh
committee which later changed its name to Varanasi Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
(VGPC). 170 In connection with the five-hundredth anniversary of Guru Nanak in 1969
the Guru was recorded as the chieftain (malik) of Gurubagh, while Guru Tegh Bahadur
formally remained the proprietor of Nichibagh. 171
REMOLDING SPACES AND PRACTICES
For community members with a pre-partition past in Varanasi the year of 1942 signifies
an important moment in history. It is the point in time when the Gurus’ territories
were transferred from “sadhus” to “Sardar jis” and the religious practices changed
from “improper” Hindu rituals to proper ministration of the Guru Granth Sahib. In a
culture that mass-produces hagiographical literature of great saints, politicians, artists
and other public figures, it is not surprising to find that the collective group suspends
their common history by achievements of a few exemplary individuals and events,
and not the disparate and sometimes conflicting deeds of the broad masses. In conversations
on the history of Sikh community in Varanasi considerably many of my
interlocutors tended to structure their memory of the public religious life on stories
about individuals who had played prominent roles for the community. Except for
168
Assessment List for Taxes on the Annual Value of Buildings and Lands, House no B21/10, 1952 ‒
1955. Enclosed File no. B857, 1949, 16/6, 1951. An elderly Sikh man, who was in his twenties
when the transfer occurred, confirmed that the four Udasin “sadhus” who lived in Gurubagh
died without any successors.
169
Some of the official records on SGPCB were missing in the archive at the Municipal Corporation
in Varanasi since they were being used for court cases.
170
After the partition the local authorities introduced new rules in registration of religious communities.
Because the SGPCB was not registered, the Municipal Corporation found difficulties
in collecting taxes from the gurdwara buildings and sent several notices to the board. Assessment
List for Taxes on the Annual Value of Buildings and Lands, House no B21/10, 1952 ‒1955. House no
B21/10, 1952 ‒ 1955, pp. 176 ‒ 177; House no B21/10, 10 a, 1967 ‒ 1972, pp. 129 ‒ 130; House no
CK 58/2, 1967 ‒ 1976; Enclosed File no. B857, 1949, 16/6, 1951.
171
Assessment List for Taxes on the Annual Value of Buildings and Lands, House no B21/10, 1967 ‒
1972, pp. 129 ‒ 130.
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008