ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MA&#7748GAL SI&#7748GH SARD&#256R (1892-1987)</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="MADGAL,SIDGH,SARDR,Person,Person"> <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">&#65279MA&#7748GAL SI&#7748GH, SARD&#256R (1892-1987), journalist, politician and parliamentarian, long had the epithet 'Ak&#257l&#299&#8217 attached to his name for his prominence in Ak&#257l&#299 affairs. He was born on 6 June 1892 at the village of Gill, near Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, the son of Zaild&#257r Kap&#363r Si&#7749gh, who had been granted by the British two squares (20 hectares) of land in 1898 in Chakk No. 208 in the newly developed canal colony of Lyallpur, to where the family eventually migrated. After passing the matriculation examination in 1911, Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh joined the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College at Amritsar. As the First World War broke out in 1914, he left off studies and enlisted in the signals section of the University Officers Training Corps. For his war service which took him to Mesopotamia (present Iraq) and later Europe, he was awarded the honorary pass degree of Bachelor of Arts and was nominated a <i>tahs&#299ld&#257r</i>, a coveted position for beginners in the revenue department.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He was still under training when he quit to join the Punjabi daily <i>Ak&#257l&#299</i>, floated from Lahore in May 1920 by two Ak&#257l&#299 leaders, Master Sundar Si&#7749gh and Harchand Si&#7749gh to espouse the cause of Gurdw&#257r&#257 reform. Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh suffered prosecution for his anti-government writings and was sentenced to jail. By the time he was released, the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal and Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had been declared unlawful bodies and all leading Ak&#257l&#299s taken into custody. Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh was chosen president of the ad hoc SGPC and in this capacity he took part in the deliberations and negotiations which ultimately led to the passing of the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act, 1925. Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh presided over the first meeting of the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Central Board constituted under the Act held on 4 September 1926, and acted as <i>pro-tem</i> president of the meeting held on 2 October 1926 at which B&#257b&#257 Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh was elected president and Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh vice-president. Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh himself was elected a member of the executive.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh represented the Sikhs on the Mot&#299l&#257l Nehr&#363 Committee (1928) which drew up a draft constitution for India, commonly known as the Nehr&#363 Committee Report. He put forward the view that the Sikhs were in favour of joint electorates but, if the Muslims were conceded separate electoral rights, one-third seats in the Punjab legislature and five per cent at the centre should be reserved for the Sikhs. The Committee, while recommending the abolition of separate electorates, agreed to reservation of seats for Muslims in some provinces and for non-Muslims in the North-West Frontier Province, but no protection was provided for Sikhs as a minority, which was the cause of much of resentment among them. For ten years, 1935-45, Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh remained a member of Central Legislative Assembly as a nominee of the Indian National Congress. He was re-elected in 1945 as a candidate of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal and served as a member of its planning committee, when the Central Assembly converted into the Constituent Assembly of India. During his years in the Central Assembly, Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh enjoyed much prestige as a spokesman of the Sikhs. He withdrew himself from active politics in 1960 for reasons of health.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ma&#7749gal Si&#7749gh died at Cha&#7751&#7693&#299ga&#7771h on 16 June 1987.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Pi&#257r Si&#7749gh, <i>Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Samundr&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Josh, Sohan Si&#7749gh, <i>Ak&#257l&#299 Morchi&#257&#7749 d&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Delhi, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Prat&#257p Singh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sudh&#257r arth&#257t Ak&#257l&#299 Lahir</i> [Reprint]. Amritsar, 1975<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Ajmer Si&#7749gh; Lohga&#7771h<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>