Panth Rattan Shiri Gurcharan Singh Tohra was a president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a Sikh body in charge of controlling Gurdwara. 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.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is an organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the union territory of Chandigarh. SGPC also administers Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.
Simranjit Singh Mann is a former Indian Police Service officer and a former Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, representing the constituency of Sangrur since 2022. He lost elections in 2024 and Gurmeet Singh meet Hayer became new member of parliament. He is the president of the political party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mann has served three-times as an MP; once from Taran Tarn between 1989 and 1991, and twice from Sangrur between 1999-2004 and since 2022. He is known as a Khalistani supporter and his party is known for their pro-Khalistan stances.
The Nanakshahi(Gurmukhi: ਨਾਨਕਸ਼ਾਹੀ, pronunciation: [naːnakʃaːɦiː])calendar is a tropical solar calendar used in Sikhism. It is based on the "Barah Maha", a composition composed by the Sikh gurus reflecting the changes in nature conveyed in the twelve-month cycle of the year. The year begins with the month of Chet, with 1 Chet corresponding to 14 March. The reference epoch of the Nanakshahi calendar is the birth of Guru Nanak Dev, corresponding to the year 1469 CE.
Bhagwant Singh Mann is an Indian politician, social worker, former comedian, singer and actor who is currently serving as the 17th Chief minister of Punjab since 2022. He represents the Dhuri Assembly constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly since 2022 and is also serving as the state convener of Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab since 2019. Previously, he was a member of the Lok Sabha from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency from 2014 to 2022.
Sikh architecture is a style of architecture that was developed under the Sikh Confederacy and Sikh Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries in the Punjab region. Due to its progressive style, it is constantly evolving into many newly developing branches with new contemporary styles. Although Sikh architecture was initially developed within Sikhism its style has been used in many non-religious buildings due to its beauty. 300 years ago, Sikh architecture was distinguished for its many curves and straight lines; Keshgarh Sahib and the Harmandir Sahib are prime examples.
Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa is a member of the Rajya Sabha. He was the former President of Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt), which was formed by the merger of Shiromani Akali Dal (Democratic) and Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) led by him and Ranjit Singh Brahampura respectively. He returned to the Shiromani Akali Dal political party by merging his party back into it in March 2024. He was previously a member of 14th Lok Sabha of India, representing the Sangrur constituency of Punjab. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan in the awards list of 26 January 2019. However, he returned it in December 2020 during the farmer protests.
Harchand Singh Longowal was the President of the Akali Dal during the Punjab insurgency of the 1980. He had signed the Punjab accord, also known as the Rajiv-Longowal Accord along with Rajiv Gandhi on 24 July 1985. The government accepted most of the demands of Akali Dal who in turn agreed to withdraw their agitation. Less than a month after signing the Punjab accord, Sant Longowal was assassinated by Gyan Singh Leel and Jarnail Singh Halvara.
Randeep Singh Surjewala is an Indian politician from Haryana and a member of Indian National Congress party. He was an MLA in the Haryana state legislature until 2019 and a former minister. He held water supply and sanitation, parliamentary affairs, electronics and information technology, science and technology and public works as a minister in Haryana cabinet. In 2005, he was given the responsibility of Transport and Parliamentary Affairs and thus became the youngest minister in Haryana. He defeated Om Prakash Chautala in 1996 and 2005. As of December 2017, Surjewala is one of the official spokespersons of Indian National Congress party, and as of September 2021, is a General Secretary of the Indian National Congress and Party in-charge for Karnataka. In the biennial elections of the Rajya Sabha for the State of Rajasthan, held on 10 June 2022, Mr. Surjewala was elected as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, with his term to start on 5 July 2022.
Sangrur district is in the state of Punjab in northern India. Sangrur city is the district headquarters. It is one of the five districts in Patiala Division in the Indian state of Punjab. Neighbouring districts are Malerkotla (north), Barnala (west), Patiala (east), Mansa (southwest) and Fatehabad (Haryana) and Jind (Haryana) (south).
A takht, or taḵẖat, literally means a throne or seat of authority and is a spiritual and temporal centre of Sikhism. There are five takhts, which are five gurudwaras that have a very special significance for the Sikh community. Three are located in Punjab whilst the remaining two are located outside of it.
Giani Gurbachan Singh is a Sikh preacher who served as the jathedar of the Akal Takht from 2008 to 2018.
Balwant Singh Nandgarh was an Indian Sikh politician and Jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, one of five seats of temporal authority of Sikhism.
Jarnail Singh is an Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) politician. He was elected to the Fifth Legislative Assembly of Delhi in 2013, in 2015 for Sixth Legislative Assembly of Delhi and in 2020 for Seventh Legislative Assembly of Delhi. He is three times representative for Tilak Nagar constituency.
Dalvir Singh Khangura, known as "Goldy", was born on 24 September 1982 in a Jat Sikh family in Dhuri, District Sangrur, Punjab India. He has done his schooling from S.V.M., Dhuri. He later joined S.D. College, Chandigarh and did his Graduation and PGDCA. is former MLA from Dhuri, Sangrur District, Punjab. He got elected for the seat in the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. He was a politician in Indian National Congress but joined Aam Aadmi Party in May 2024 in the presence of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The 2015 Guru Granth Sahib desecration refers to a series of desecration incidents of the Sikh Guru Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent protests that took place in Punjab, India in October 2015, although it is known as the 2015 Guru Granth Sahib desecration it started from 2014 and continues till 2021. The first incident of desecration was reported from Bargari, Faridkot district, where 110 torn Angs of the holy Book were found on 12 October. On the early morning hours of 14 October, two Sikhs were peacefully protesting and were shot dead by the police as the protesters were sitting in demonstration.
Harpal Singh Cheema is an Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Dirba Assembly constituency located in Sangrur District, Punjab. In March 2022, he became first BobA to be a finance minister of Punjab. He joined the Aam Aadmi Party just before the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. He contested and won the election from Dirba Assembly constituency against a popular Punjabi Kabbadi player Gulzar Singh Moonak from Shiromani Akali Dal and Ajaib Singh Ratolan from Indian National Congress. In July 2018 he was appointed leader of opposition of Punjab Legislative Assembly.
Jagdev Singh Talwandi was an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1978 as a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a Sikh-centered regional political party. Talwandi was elected SAD president in 1978 and 1988. He became the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in 2000. He was elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha thrice in 1967, 1969, and 1972, and was inducted as a Minister of State for Development and Animal Husbandry in the Gurnam Singh Ministry and the Minister of State for Jails, Sports and Transport in the Parkash Singh Badal government. He represented Punjab in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986.
Arvind Khanna is an Indian politician, businessman, investor and philanthropist. Khanna is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he joined in January 2022. He is a senior leader of the BJP and a prominent figure in BJP Punjab. He is serving as vice-president of BJP Punjab since December 2022 and is a member of BJP Punjab's core committee and finance committee. In his political career, Khanna has been known for using his wealth and engaging in philanthropy to further consolidate his influence. He served as the member of legislative assembly (MLA) from Sangrur from 2002 to 2007 and the MLA from Dhuri from 2012 to 2014. From 1998 to 2015, Khanna was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC). During his time in the INC, Khanna had served as General Secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), as PPCC treasurer and was a member of the All India Congress Committee.
Barinder Kumar Goyal Vakeel is an Indian politician and the MLA representing the Lehra Assembly constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He has contested the election in 1992 but lost to Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal. But in 2022, against him Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal, ex CM, was not able to save her deposit money. He defeated S. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, sitting MLA and ex. cabinet minister, Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal, ex CM and S. Gobind Singh Longowal, ex President of SGPC ex cabinet Minister with a huge margin. He is chairman of committee on subordinate legislation. He is known for his words and his social services. Before this, Barinder Kumar Goyal has made a local level social manch named as Lehra Vikas Manch (LVM). LVM contested the elections of municipal council of Lehra in Feb 2021 and surprised the Punjab with the results. During these elections, perhaps Lehra was the only municipality in Punjab, where the ruling party was not able to prove the majority. He was elected as the MLA in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election.
