GSC History : Past and Present

Global Sikh Council Inc.

Brief History

The Idea of forming a Global Level Sikh Organization Initiated during the Year 1993 Centennial Celebration of the Parliament of World Religions held in Chicago. As a results, with the efforts of a few Individuals mainly from the US, and with the help of Akal Takht Jathedar, World Sikh Council was formed in the Year1999.

By the year 2005, the World Sikh Council had become Non Functional, and the American Region of the World Sikh Council (WSC) Americas Region continued to function as an Organization.

In the Year 2010 World Sikh Council – Americas Region revived the efforts to form a Global Level Sikh Organization. Continuing the efforts, a Meeting with Representatives from various Regions was hosted in Australia on February 28 to March 1, 2014. Representatives from following Countries were present:

1) Australia, 2) Malaysia (Attended involved via phone conversations) 3) Thailand 4) United Kingdom 5) United States of America,

Gulbarg Singh Basi was requested to Register a New Organization in the United States under the Name of Global Sikh Council. Domain Named Global Sikh Council.Org was Registered as the Official Website Name. As a result, Global Sikh Council Inc was Registered as Charity in the US (Georgia) as Domestic Non-profit Corporation on 16th July 2014. All the changes in Executive Committee are updated on Georgia Corporations Division and can be checked anytime online on the following Government Website: https://ecorp.sos.ga.gov/BusinessSearch/BusinessInformation?businessId=1961574&businessType=Domestic%20Nonprofit%20Corporation&fromSearch=True

First AGM was held in UK in August 2016, and the following Members Were Selected as Ad Hoc Committee:

• S. Gulbarg Singh Basi (US),President.
• Lady Kanwaljit Kaur Singh (UK), Vice President.
• S. Gurdeep Singh Kundan (Switzerland), Secretary.
• S. Harcharan Singh (Malaysia), Treasurer.
• S. Tejinder Singh Uppal (Thailand), Media and Public Relations.

The Organization continued to add New Members through its PR Campaign and by the time of the next Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) in March 2016 in France, the Organization had Fifteen Members and had developed and accepted a First Draft of the Constitution.

The Board members selected following as the Executive Committee Members:

• S. Gulbarg Singh Basi (US), President.
• Lady Kanwaljit Kaur Singh (UK), Vice President.
• S. Davinder Singh Eari (Kenya), Secretary.
• S. Dalbir Singh (Italy), Treasurer.
• S. Gurdial Singh (France), Media and Public relations.

Next Mid-Term meeting was held in Sept 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The progress was ongoing and GSC grew to 21 Members in the General Body and the next AGM was Hosted by Malaysia in March 2017.

The following Members Were Selected to Serve on the EC:

• Lady Kanwaljit Kaur Singh (UK), President.
• S. Ajmer Singh Gill Australia), Vice President.
• S. Gurdeep Singh Kundan (Switzerland), Secretary.
• S. Harcharan Singh (Malaysia), Treasurer.
• S. Gurpreet Singh (India), Media and Public Relations.

The Year 2018, the AGM was First Scheduled for Switzerland. However, when Dubai offered to host the AGM, the EC Committee agreed to shift to Dubai for that Year, even at the inconvenience to the Switzerland Chapter, as that would help to attract more Members from the Middle East.

The AGM in Dubai was cancelled by the President on 2nd March as the Host in Dubai refused to Host the Meeting. The EC Meeting Chaired by President was held on 3rd March 2018 where it was unanimously decided to hold the AGM back in Switzerland, pending confirmation. The follow-up EC Meeting was scheduled for 5th March to discuss AGM Agenda. But before the meeting on 5th, the President on her own reinstated the Dubai meeting without Consulting Other Executive Members. GSC being a Democratic Institute, Unilateral decisions were not appreciated by the EC Members. During the Scheduled EC Meeting on 5th March 2018, the President remained Absent. EC members decided to call a Board Meeting on 10th March to bring Transparency in the Proceedings. However, the President remained Absent again in the Board Meeting as well. The Board members decided to Expel the President from the Responsibilities and the Dubai AGM remained Cancelled. The remaining EC members unanimously Nominated S Gurpreet Singh (India) as the President. Hence, the EC for next year was as follows:

• S. Gurpreet Singh (India), President
• S. Ajmer Singh Gill (Australia) Vice President.
• S. Gurdeep Singh Kundan, Secretary.
• S. Harcharan Singh (Malaysia) Treasurer,
• Media and Public Relations left open.

The next AGM was held in Switzerland in July 2019 and the following Members were Selected to Serve on the EC:

• S. Gurpreet Singh (Chandigarh), President.
• Bibi Harpreet Kaur (Delhi) Vice President
• S. Gurdeep Singh (Switzerland) Secretary
• S. Ramesh Singh (Pakistan), Treasurer
• S. Inderpreet Singh (US), Media and Public Relations

In the September 2021 AGM, the following Members were Selected to Serve on the Executive Committee:

• S. Inderpreet Singh (US) President.
• S. Harcharn Singh (Kuwait) Vice President.
• S. Gurpreet Singh, (Bahrain) Secretary
• Bibi Manjeet Kaur (UK)) Treasurer S.
• Balwinder Singh Sagar, (Chandigarh), Media and Public Relations

In March 2022 AGM, the following members were selected to serve on the Executive Committee:

• S. Amritpal Singh Sachdeva (UK), President
• Bibi Mandeep Kaur (UAE) Vice President
• S. Gurpreet Singh (Bahrain), Secretary
• S. Sadhu Singh Rikhiraj, Treasurer.
• S. Amarinder Singh Bajwa, (Australia), Media and Public Relations

Please note: S. Charanjit Singh Dhanjal took over from S. Amarinder Singh Bajwa and Dr. Kala Singh Ji is Selected to Serve as an Assistant Secretary for the year 2022-23.

Since its Inception, GSC has Served the Sikh Community to become Global Voice in various ways. Some of the Highlights are as follows:

· GSC issues Press Releases on Issues important to Sikhs around the Globe.

• GSC held Conferences in Indonesia and Bahrain as part of Sikhi Parchaar.
• GSC held a Joint Conference “WCC Hosts Historic Sikh-Christian Dialogue” with World Council of Churches (WCC) in Switzerland in July 2019.
• On the occasion of 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Sahib, GSC conducted Turban contest was organized in the village Nadala, Kapurthala.
• GSC Organized Seminar on the Evils of Caste, Creed, System in Sikh Society.
• GSC Representatives Are Regularly Present in various Talk shows and Interfaith Discussion Forums.
• GSC participated in the discussions and supported local community in France for Turban and in Italy for Kirpan. · GSC held a meeting with University of North Carolina (UNC) to convince them to change their laws to allow wearing Kirpan on campus.
• Other projects (like – PEHEL, Maa Boli Punjabi, Kich Suniye Kich Kahiye, Women Empowerment, Punjabi Classes, Gurbani Saanjh, Global Sikhi Scholars) of GSC can be checked at official website.

(Drafted as on 8th January 2023 in a meeting. Attendees: Amritpal Singh Sachdeva, Gurpreet Singh, Bahrain, Mandeep Kaur, Gurdeep Singh Kundan, Charanjit Singh Dhanjal, Gulbarg Singh Basi, Gurpreet Singh, India, Davinder Singh Eari, Harcharan Singh)