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 Punjabi Suba movement was a long-drawn political agitation,launched by punjabi speaking people demanding the creation of a Punjabi Suba,or Punjabi-speaking state,in the post-independence Indian state of East Punjab. Led by the Akali Dal,it resulted in the formation of the state of Punjab. The state of Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh were also created and some Pahari-majority parts of the East Punjab were also merged with Himachal Pradesh following the movement.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is an organization in India responsible for the management of gurdwaras,Sikh places of worship in three states of Punjab,Haryana,and Himachal Pradesh and union territory of Chandigarh. SGPC also administers Darbar Sahib in Amritsar.
Dal Khalsa is a Sikh organisation,based in the city of Amritsar. The organisation was formed in 1978 and came to prominence under the inspiration and time of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in 1981. The primary aim of Dal Khalsa is to achieve the independence of the Punjabi-speaking Sikh majority region of North West India through peaceful and democratic means in order to establish a sovereign Sikh state,Khalistan.
Sardar Hukam Singh was an Indian politician and the third Speaker of the Lok Sabha and second Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1962 to 1967. He was also governor of Rajasthan from 1967 to 1972.
Teja Singh Akarpuri was an Indian and Sikh politician who served as the 11th Jathedar of Akal Takht from 1921 to 1923 and 1926 to 1930. He was the First MP from Gurdaspur constituency In Lok Sabha from 1952 to 1957 and was succeeded by Diwan Chand Sharma.
Lachhman Singh Gill was an Indian politician who served as the 12th Chief Minister of Punjab. He remained in this post from 25 November 1967 to 22 August 1968. He was a member of Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD),a Sikh-centered regional political party in Punjab.
A Jathedar of a Jatha with authority to protect a village in history. Among the Sikhs,a Jathedar is an ordained leader of the clergy and leads a Takht,a sacred and authoritative seat.
Harjinder Singh Dilgeer He is the only author who has written Complete History of the Sikhs and has translated Guru Granth Sahib in English and has published NEW MAHAN KOSH Encyclopedia of Sikh literature and Punjab &Sikh History{3 of the 4 volumes of the NEW Mahan Kosh have been published in March 2021. He has written in detail about the concept and the history of Akal Takht Sahib,Sikh culture,Shiromani Akali Dal,the history of Anandpur Sahib,and Kiratpur Sahib,Dictionary of Sikh Philosophy etc. The Sikh Reference Book is his magnum opus. 'The Sikh Reference Book' is an encyclopaedia consisting of more than 2400 biographies,complete chronology of Sikh history,400 concepts of Sikh philosophy as well more than 800 Sikh shrines. He has produced a Sikh Encyclopedia CD-ROM. His latest books are Encyclopedia of Jalandhar (English),Banda Singh Bahadur,Sikh Twareekh in five volumes,Sikh History in ten volumes;and English translations of Nitnaym and Sukhmani Sahib.. His latest work is English translation of Guru Granth Sahib,in seven volumes and NEW MAHAN KOSH,published in March 2021. Dilgeer as a poet:Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer is a good poet also. He writes both in Urdu and Punjabi. His poetry works include:Eskimo Smile (Punjabi),Jujharoo Kalaam (Punjabi),Dilgeerian and Diwan-i-Dilgeer (Urdu).
The Sikh Reference Library was a repository of over 1,500 rare manuscripts located in the Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar,Punjab which was destroyed during Operation Blue Star. In 1984,the library's contents were confiscated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the empty building allegedly burned to the ground by the Indian Army. In recent years the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has attempted to recover the looted material but has not yet recovered substantial materials. To date,the status of library manuscripts and artifacts is unclear;the vast majority remain in the hands of the government,a few office files and passports were returned,and as many as 117 items were destroyed for being "seditious" materials.
The Akali movement,also called the Gurdwara Reform Movement,was a campaign to bring reform in the gurdwaras in India during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of the Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925,which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).
Jiwan Singh Umranangal (1914-1998) was an Indian politician belonging to the Akali Dal. He served as the revenue minister of Punjab. He is the grandfather of Paramraj Singh Umranangal,a senior IPS Officer of the Punjab Cadre.
Jathedar Singh Sahib Giani Gurbachan Singh Ji (born on 6 April 1948 at Chakk Baja in Muktsar,Punjab,was the 30th Jathedar of Akal Takht. Before being appointed as Jathedar,he also served as Head Granthi of Sachkhand Sri Harmandir Sahib.
Balwant Singh Nandgarh is a Sikh politician and Jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib,one of five seats of temporal authority of Sikhism.
Parkash Singh Badal is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Punjab state from 1970 to 1971,from 1977 to 1980,from 1997 to 2002,and from 2007 to 2017. He is also the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD),a Sikh-centered regional political party. He was the president of the party from 1995 to 2008,when he was replaced by his son Sukhbir Singh Badal. As the patron of SAD he exercises a strong influence on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. The Government of India awarded him the second-highest civilian award,Padma Vibhushan,in 2015.
The Jathedar of the Akal Takht is the appointed head of the Akal Takht and the Sikhs of the world. Sikh clergy consists of five Jathedars,one each from five Takhts.
Giani Partap Singh was a Sikh priest and Panjabi writer. He served as the first acting Jathedar of Akal Takht from 19 December 1937 to 1948 and 19th Jathedar of Akal Takht from 1952 to 15 February 1955.
Mehtab Singh,Sardar Bahadur (1879–1938) was a lawyer,freedom fighter and legislator who became closely associated with Gurudwara Reform movement and later became the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.
Mohan Singh Nagoke (1898–1969) was a Politician from Punjab,Freedom fighter and former Jathedar of Akal Takhat Sahib.
Mangal Singh was a Punjabi politician and legislator,member of Central Legislative Assembly and also served as President of SGPC.
