ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>KALG&#298DHAR D&#298W&#256N MALAYA</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="KALG*DHAR,D*WN,MALAYA"> <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">&#65279KALG&#298DHAR D&#298W&#256N MALAYA, a socio-religious body of the Sikhs in Malaya (Malaysia), and an offshoot of <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Malaya, was first formed in January 1918 as <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, Selangor (3º20'N, 101º15'E), by those elements of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Malaya who were dissatisfied with the parent body's affiliation with the Chief <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, Amritsar, and its indifferent attitude to the <i>Komagata Maru's</i> sufferers. During the annual Sikh conference at Penang (5º24'N, 100º19'E) in 1919, differences between the two groups became more pronounced on the question of disposal of surplus funds of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Malaya. While the establishment wanted to remit them to the Chief <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, the dissidents insisted on their retention in Malaya for educational purposes. The rift was complete with the establishment of the Kalg&#299dhar D&#299w&#257n Malaya in place of <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Selangor. It was registered as a central body of Malay Sikhs on 1 February 1920. Its aims and objectives were the same as those of the parent body, viz. religious, social and educational uplift of the Sikh community. The activities of the D&#299w&#257n included <i>prach&#257r</i> or preaching of Sikhism, maintenance of <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> and cremation grounds, running of educational institutions, and welfare of orphans and other needy Sikhs. Its preachers co-operated with those of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299wan Malaya in religious service and baptismal ceremonies. On theological points, the Kalg&#299dhar D&#299wan was nearer to the Pañch <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, Bhasau&#7771. It was against the recital of <i>R&#257gm&#257l&#257</i> at the conclusion of the reading of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Proper etiquette was insisted upon in holy assemblies. <i>Rum&#257l&#257s</i> or coverlets for the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib with the sketches or pictures of the Gur&#363s printed on them were prohibited. The leadership of the D&#299w&#257n excluded uninvited persons from their business meetings by issuing identification badges for attendance.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Paradoxically, while it disliked the Chief <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n's pro-government policies in India, the Kalg&#299dhar D&#299w&#257n solicited the British government's favour in Malaya. It presented scrolls of honour to retiring British officers and its leaders accepted titles and honours such as 'Sard&#257r S&#257hib' and Justice of Peace' awarded by the government. Cordial relations with the authorities were, of course, not without dividends for the community. For example, the Director of Education agreed to encourage Sikh students to maintain unshorn hair and beard; Sikh civil servants and students were allowed any two of three optional Holidays Bais&#257kh&#299 and birth anniversaries of Gur&#363 N&#257nak and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh; and the government agreed that death in hospital of a Sikh without relations to claim the body would be intimated by the hospital authorities to the nearest Sikh temple, the latter undertaking to perform the last rites and to transmit information to the next of kin in India. In 1924, jointly with the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Malaya, legal permission for the Sikhs to wear <i>kirp&#257n</i> (a small sword as a religious symbol of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257) was sought; and, although formal permission was not granted, no official notice was taken of the Sikhs wearing it. Again, in 1925, at the joint representation of the two D&#299w&#257ns, Sikh weddings under the Anand Marriage Act of India received legal recognition in Malaya.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kalg&#299dhar D&#299w&#257n took up an educational programme in December 1924, advocating the need for education in Punjabi particularly for girls, in all <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>. In 1934, land was purchased near lpoh (4º-35'N, 101-5'E) for a school, and the Gur&#363 Kalg&#299dhar School, Ipoh, started functioning on I January 1937. Early in the 1920's a Punjabi newspaper, <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Prak&#257sh</i>, had been floated. In 1931, Bachittar Si&#7749gh Mus&#257fir, an immigrant from the Sikh state of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, set up a Punjabi Press under the aegis of the Kalg&#299dhar D&#299w&#257n and started a Punjabi daily, <i>Pardes&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Sevak</i>. It came under the control of the lndian Independence League during the World War II. In 1947 Bachittar Si&#7749gh retired to his native village in India. A limited company was formed to run the press and a new paper <i>Malaya Sam&#257ch&#257r</i> replaced <i>Pardes&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Sevak</i>. The D&#299w&#257n had been dormant under the Japanese occupation (1942-45), and was again inactive after the declaration of emergency in Malaya in 1948. In 1962, a meeting to revive its activity was summoned in Penang, but several old guard stalwarts having passed away and the effort having received little support from the younger generation, Kalg&#299dhar D&#299w&#257n Malaya phased out quietly.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Meherv&#257n Si&#7749gh Singapore<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>