Gurcharan Singh Tohra
| Panth Rattan Shiri Gurcharan Singh Tohra | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Gurcharan Singh Tohra 24 September 1924 |
| Died | 1 April 2004 New Delhi, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Former president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) |
| Political party | Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) |
| Spouse(s) | Bibi Joginder Kaur |
Panth Rattan Shiri Gurcharan Singh Tohra (24 September 1924 – 1 April 2004) was a president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a Sikh body in charge of controlling Gurdwara (Sikh places of worship). He died of a heart attack in New Delhi on 1 April 2004 at the age of 79. He remained the head of the SGPC for a record 27 years, and was one of the most influential and controversial Sikh leaders of the 20th century.
Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam described the Sikh leader as a "prominent political and social leader who was well known for his work during his many years in public life".
During his lifetime and after his death, Gurcharan Singh Tohra was addressed by many sobriquets. It included Pope of the Sikhs, Pearl of the Panth, Kingmaker, Pope, Messiah, Reformist, Conformist, Forever-Dissenter, Wily Fox, Wily Politician, and Machiavelli. Followers often addressed him as Pardhanji (President) or Jathedar.
Born at Tohra village of Patiala district in Punjab in September 1924, he had an early interest in religion and was an active Akali worker even before the partition of India. He became General Secretary of the Patiala unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal in 1947.
Tohra, a graduate in Punjabi from Lahore University, worked at the grass root level for the next two decades and came into contact with Communists, including CPI-M leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet though he did not become one himself.
Known as a hardliner, Tohra had carved out for himself the image of a non-conformist with the powers-that-be in Akali politics and had taken frontline SAD leaders Surjit Singh Barnala and Parkash Singh Badal who had headed Akali Dal governments in Punjab in the eighties and nineties. He was known for his own brand of politics. It was his integrity and honesty that endeared him to many followers
Tohra was a member of Lok Sabha in 1977–79 though earlier he was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha five times from Punjab from 1969 to 1976 and re-elected in May 1980, April 1982, in April 1998 and in March 2004.
He played a huge role in Sikh political affairs in post partition India. Along with Parkash Singh Badal and Jagdev Singh Talwandi, he was regarded as the triumvirate of Sikh politics in Punjab. Unlike the other two, his main domain was the Sikh religious institution, the SGPC. Though he dabbled with electoral politics often, Tohra made his mark in Sikh religious affairs. He is credited with rebuilding the institution of the Akal Takhat.
...
Wikipedia