ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BASANT SI&#7748GH BH&#256&#298 (d. 1900)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BASANT,SIDGH,BH*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279 BASANT SI&#7748GH, BH&#256&#298 (d. 1900), one of the founder-members of Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, Lahore, established on 2 November 1879, worked as its accountant and later became its vice-president. Differences between Bh&#257&#299 Basant Si&#7749gh and other leaders of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, Lahore, originating in the expulsion in April 1886 of B&#257v&#257 Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh and D&#299w&#257n B&#363&#7789&#257 Si&#7749gh in April 1886 for their advocacy of the restoration of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh to the throne of the Punjab, came to a head when, on 31 October 1887, the N&#257nak Panth Prak&#257sh Sabh&#257, celebrating its seventh anniversary at Gurdw&#257r&#257 Janam Asth&#257n, Lahore, displayed a garlanded portrait of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 by the side of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Bh&#257&#299 Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh, secretary of Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, took exception to what he said was an act of sacrilege as well as an act against the pro-government policy of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n of Lahore. He particularly criticized Bh&#257&#299 Basant Si&#7749gh, who also bore an office in the N&#257nak Panth Prak&#257sh Sabh&#257. Bh&#257&#299 Basant Si&#7749gh retaliated a few months later by passing strictures against Bh&#257&#299 Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh in the audit report (AD 1888) on the accounts of the Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 of which he was the secretary. He and his colleagues were charged with misusing the Sabh&#257 funds spent on defending Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh, editor of the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 A<u>kh</u>b&#257r </i>, facing a defamation suit in a civil court for publishing in his newspaper a portion of his <i>Svapan N&#257&#7789ak </i> ("Dream Play&#8221), a thinly-veiled satire on the leading figures of the Amritsar <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In September 1888, Bh&#257&#299 Basant Si&#7749gh, who was vice-president of the Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, Lahore, and Bh&#257&#299 Sant Si&#7749gh who was its president, broke away from it and formed a parallel association named Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Hitk&#257rn&#299 Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. The new Sabh&#257 enjoyed the backing of D&#299w&#257n B&#363&#7789&#257 Si&#7749gh, the proprietor of the paper and press named <i>&#256ft&#257b-i-Punjab</i>, and Mehar Si&#7749gh Ch&#257wl&#257, a rich merchant of Lahore who also became secretary of the Hitk&#257rni Sabh&#257, with Sant Si&#7749gh as president and Basant Si&#7749gh as vice-president. The <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n of Amritsar also supported it for its own factional reasons. Bh&#257&#299 Basant Si&#7749gh supported the Shuddh&#299 or proselytization movement started by Dr Jai Si&#7749gh although the Amritsar <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n was opposed to it, but on the question of the location of the proposed <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, he sided with it preferring Amritsar to Lahore which was the choice of the Lahore <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n as the seat for the new college. Again, unlike the Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 and the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n of Lahore, he applauded the enterprise of R&#257j&#257 Bikram Si&#7749gh of Far&#299dko&#7789 to have a commentary on the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib prepared by a synod of scholars. He in fact joined the Amritsar <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n deputation that called on the ailing R&#257j&#257 on 10 February 1894 at Far&#299dko&#7789 to ask after his health and offer their good wishes for his recovery. But in 1895, Bh&#257&#299 Basant Si&#7749gh joined hands with Bh&#257&#299 Mayy&#257 Si&#7749gh, secretary of the Lahore Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, and merged his Hitk&#257rni Sabh&#257 with that body of which he once again became an active member. He also took over editorship of the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Gazette</i> on which he continued to work until his death in Lahore on 13 August 1900.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Prat&#257p Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sudh&#257r arth&#257t Ak&#257l&#299 Lahir</i> [Reprint]. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Lahir</i>. Ludhiana, 1974<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>