‘By the mid 1880s the Khalsa Akhbar, a Tat Khalsa publication, had carved out for itself a leading position. It published mostly social and cultural news and aimed besides to inform the Sikh public about correct doctrine, ritual and practice.
The success of this paper must have been a source of considerable envy for Sanatan Sikhs. Their own ideological arm, the paper Gurmukhi Akhbar, was comparatively ineffectual. In the spring of 1887 Ditt Singh (Giani Ji), the editor of the Khalsa Akhbar, wrote a play called Svapan Natak and published parts of it in the 16 April 1887 edition of the paper.
Bawa Udey Singh, a nephew of Baba Khem Singh Bedi and an employee of Bikram Singh, filed a defamation suit against Ditt Singh. He put forward the plea that a the play, besides disparaging him, poured ridicule on Baba Khem Singh Bedi, Raja Bikram Singh, Giani Jhanda Singh, Giani Sant Singh, Sarmukh Singh Bhalla, Giani Badan Singh, Avtar Singh Vahiria and Man Singh - all leading Sanatan Sikhs.
The plaintiff’s case was initially successful and Ditt Singh was fined Rs 51 by the lower court. But in an appeal to the divisional judge the earlier decision was reversed and Ditt Singh was acquitted.
Although the Sanatan Sikhs failed to convict Ditt Singh, the effort and expense involved in the defence ultimately led to the closure of the Khalsa press and the Khalsa Akhbar in 1889.’
Harjot Oberoi
p. 393
‘To our dear readers of the Khalsa Akbar Newspaper, we solemnly ask for your prayers. The Khalsa Akbar is a volunteer of the Khalsa Punth whose mission was to make Sikhs aware of the many faults which are occurring in the Panth and which is causing damage to the Panth. To bring the Khalsa Punth back on track, the Khalsa Akbar has spent a wealth of time to this end.
… unfortunately this paper has received many blows to the core with many wished to derail our efforts, just like this current court case.’
Translated by S. Simranjeet S. Rahi
(Khalsa Akhbar, Lahore) Dec 31st, 1887
Dr. Karnail Singh Somal in his Panjabi book titled ‘Bhai Ditt Singh Giani’ (Singh Brothers, Amritsar) writes that for a certain period of time, the Khalsa Akbar was shut down but restarted on May 1st 1893.
‘Last year, this volunteer of the Panth (referring to the Khalsa Akbar) had to fight some strong fighters (referring to the Sanatan Sikhs) but the Khalsa Akbar has shown its ferocity and has gained victory.’
Translated by S. Simranjeet S. Rahi
(Khalsa Akhbar, Lahore) May 1st, 1893
Giani Ditt Singh referred to the Khalsa Akbar, Lahore as a ‘Jangi Fauj of the Khalsa Panth’ (a fighting force)
‘It is against this backdrop that the role the press played in the Punjab crisis must be seen. As the politics of North India polarised along communal lines, not without some canny manipulation by New Delhi, the national English newspapers became increasingly strident in their attacks on the Sikhs. Even more violent were some of the language papers.’
S. Patwant Singh (Punjab - The Fatal Miscalculation)
With this, it was fascinating to see two Gurdwaras located ‘side by side’ in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
En-route to the Singh Sabha, I had initially driven right past the Guru Nanak Gurdwara and it was only until a dear friend inside the Singh Sabha complex told me that there was another Gurdwara across the road.
I was intrigued, so it was decided, I would only leave Hitchin after completing the Yatra. On entry to the Gurdwara, a Singh Ji had greeted me with love in the way accepted by Guru Sahib and we spoke for quite a lengthy period of time.
I proceeded with caution to ask him why there were two Gurdwaras in Hitchin and further asked him whether there a personality/committee issue or in fact a philosophy/practice issue. He replied that this Gurdwara, the Guru Nanak Gurdwara was the first Gurdwara in Hitchin, the Singh Sabha was formed later on and with regards the second question, Singh Ji said neither I know the answer to this, nor do our friends at the Singh Sabha…
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