ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SHER SI&#7748GH 1</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="SHER,SIDGH"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279SHER SI&#7748GH, Gi&#257n&#299 (1890-1944), political leader, orator and newspaper editor, was born the son of Vary&#257m Si&#7749gh and Nand Kaur at the village of &#7788h&#299kr&#299v&#257l&#257, now in Sa&#7749gr&#363r district of the Punjab, in January 1890. An attack of smallpox when he was barely two years old left him totally blind. Yet he educated himself, first receiving instruction at the hands of two Sikh schoolmen, Sant Jav&#257l&#257 D&#257s and Sant Bhol&#257 Si&#7749gh, and then attending for nearly five years an institute for the blind children at Daudhar. He gained good command of Sikh theology and scriptures and came to be known as a Gi&#257n&#299. Early in his life he took to preaching. The first centre he chose was Pesh&#257war where he reained from 1911 to 1915, thereafter shifting to R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299, his host in that town being N&#257nak Si&#7749gh, then a rising poet, who later became famous as a Punjabi novelist. From R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299, Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh started a series of Punjabi tracts and books, Gurmat Parch&#257r La&#7771&#299, to which he contributed the lives of Gur&#363 Hargobind, Gur&#363 Har R&#257i, Gur&#363 Har Krishan and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. The <i>Nitnem Sa&#7789&#299k, Gur&#363 S&#257hib te Ved, Gur&#363 Granth te Panth</i> and <i>R&#257gm&#257l&#257 Darpa&#7751</i> are some of his other better-known works.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Transferring himself to Amritsar, he edited successively the <i>Pardes&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257</i>, the daily <i>Qaum&#299 Dard, Asl&#299 Qaum&#299 Dard</i>, the <i>Sikh Sevak</i> and the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Sevak</i>. His last newspaper was the weekly <i>Punjab</i> which he launched in 1938, after severing connection with the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Sevak</i>. As a newspaper editor, Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh enjoyed great influence. His editorials were marked by forthrightness, a flair for polemics and argument and remarkable political acumen, and he was known for his strong advocacy of Sikh rights and interests. Besides his journalism, Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh also took active part in politics. He made powerful speeches from the Congress platform and was taken into custody for one of these and confined in jail from 23 June 1922 to 30 June 1923.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He was again arrested in October 1923 when the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee of which he was a member was declared to be an unlawful organization. He was released from Lahore Fort towards the end of January 1926 along with 19 other Ak&#257l&#299 leaders who agreed to give an undertaking to work by the newly passed Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act. The other section of the Ak&#257l&#299s, led by Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Samundr&#299 and Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, refused to give any such undertaking and continued in confinement. This was the beginning of a schism in the Ak&#257l&#299 ranks which resulted in the formation of two separate parties -- Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal and the Central Ak&#257l&#299 Dal Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh was a leading figure in the latter. Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh served another term in jail from 16 November 1931 to 17 May 1932 for participation in the Ak&#257l&#299 <i>morch&#257</i> at &#7692ask&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the first elections held under the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257 Act in the summer of 1926, Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh was elected unopposed to the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. In the committee his role was that of the leader of the opposition who for many a long year gave the ruling party led by Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh a stubborn fight. Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh, who was vice-president of the Central Sikh League, represented the Sikhs in All-India forums such as the All-Parties Conference held at Lucknow in August 1928 and the Unity Conference convened by Madan Mohan M&#257lav&#299ya and Shaukat 'Al&#299 at All&#257h&#257b&#257d in November 1932. In the elections to the provincial assemblies held in the winter of 1936-37 under the Government of India Act of 1935, Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh lent powerful support to the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 National Party sponsored by Sir Sundar Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257 and Sir Jogendra Si&#7749gh and played a crucial role in bridging the gap between the elitist group and the masses. The <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 National Party won more than half of the Sikh seats against the Ak&#257l&#299--Congress alliance and its representative Sundar Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257 joined the ministry formed by Muslim dominated Unionist Party. The wrangling between Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh's Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal and Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh's Central Ak&#257l&#299 Dal continued until the two leaders decided to bury the hatchet, formally arriving at a compromise on 15 November 1941. Together they campaigned for &#256z&#257d Punjab, a formula for readjusting the boundaries of the Punjab aiming at subtracting the Hindu-Sikh majority areas from the Muslim League's scheme of Pakistan.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh died on 7 October 1944 in the Civil Hospital at Amritsar where he had been under treatment for a tumour in the brain.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Gurcharan Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Gi&#257n&#299 Sher Si&#7749gh : J&#299v&#257n ate Likht&#257&#7749</i>. Delhi, 1988<BR> <li class="C1"> Prat&#257p Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sudh&#257r arth&#257t Ak&#257l&#299 Lahir</i> Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Jaswant Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh :J&#299van Sa&#7749gharsh te Udesh</i>. Amritsar, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Tuteja, K.L., <i>Sikh Politics</i>. Kurukshetra, 1984<BR> <li class="C1"> Gulati, K.C., <i>Ak&#257l&#299s Past and Present</i>. Delhi, 1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Mohinder Singh, <i>The Akali Movement</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurmeet Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>