KHĀLSĀ CENTRAL COUNCIL, a society formed in Lahore in 1933 to safeguard the interests of the Sikhs, had a very short career. The occasion for the formation of the Council arose when Giānī Sher Siṅgh and Master Tārā Siṅgh, two prominent Sikh leaders of pre-partition Punjab, openly confronted each other soon after the announcement by the British government of the Communal Award (1932). The Sikhs deplored the Award as it did not meet their political aspirations. A Sikh organization called the Khālsā Darbār representing all sections of the Sikhs to launch an agitation against the Communal Award was formed, but it was soon plagued with group rivalries. Leaving the Khālsā Darbār, Giānī Sher Siṅgh and his supporters held a meeting in the Bradlaugh Hall, Lahore, on 28 September 1933 where they formed the Khālsā Central Council, on the lines similar to those of the Khālsā Darbār. The new organization comprised three sub-organizations called the Khālsā Akālī Dal, the Khālsā Missionary Society and the Khālsā National League. According to the constitution of the Khālsā Central Council, these bodies were to spread Sikh religion, organize the Panth for its political advancement, work for the freedom of the country, and carry on a campaign to have the Communal Award scrapped. The membership of the Khālsā Central Council, mostly owing allegiance to Giānī Sher Siṅgh, primarily belonged to upper and middle class Sikhs. Master Tārā Siṅgh's group, however, continued to hold sway over the Sikh masses and the Khālsā Central Council ceased to exist without leaving any perceptible mark on Sikh affairs.