BARNALA, June 7 — No playing of bands, no revelry with gulal, no distribution of sweets at the funeral procession of elders; no sweets with marriage invitation cards; girl’s marriage at her place of living and no dowry demands among Aggarwals, Brahmins and Khatris of Punjab.

These are among several commandments issued by the Aggarwal Sabha, Brahmin Sabha and Khatri Sabha to their respective communities.

While the Aggarwal Sabha, Punjab, was the first to take an initiative on this front, Brahmin and Khatri sabhas followed suit. The Aggarwal Sabha ,Punjab has its headquarters and a well maintained office at Barnala. It remains in touch with all its district and other units . Decisions are taken on the basis of suggestions made by the different units. These are implemented with consensus.

All the three sabhas —Aggarwal , Brahmin and Khatri —have not only started a public campaign against outmoded customs but are also distributing literature against these customs across the State. Aggarwals constitute more than 40 per cent of the Punjab’s Hindu community, claims Mr Badri Dass Singla, President of local Aggarwal Sabha and Mr Prem Kumar Garg, General Secretary of the Punjab unit of Aggarwal Sabha. Aggarwals have an impressive presence in Haryana. The Agroha Dham in Hisar district is an important pilgrimage of the Aggarwal community.

It has issued 12 commandments. Mr Prem Kumar Garg said that there were around 60 well established units of the Aggarwal Sabha ,Punjab, in the State and the commandments had been issued on the basis of suggestions of various units.

The following are some of the customs forbidden by the Sabha.