Bhai Jodh Singh

Bhai Jodh Singh (1882 to 1981) was a Sikh theologian and educationist, principal of Khalsa College, Amritsar, and the first Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls him a patriarchal figure in Sikh theology, education and politics. He was born on 31 May 1882 at Ghungrila in Rawalpindi district, baptised on 30 December 1897, and took an MA in Mathematics at Forman Christian College, Lahore, in 1906. He began as a lecturer in Sikh religion at Khalsa College, Amritsar, and became its principal. The Encyclopaedia says he had to sever his connection with the college after taking part in the struggle against British management, and returned in 1924 when British control was withdrawn.

He wrote in Punjabi and English, among his books Sikhi ki Hai? (1911) and Gurmat Nirnay (1932). He presided three times over the Sikh Educational Conference, was founder-president of the Punjabi Sahit Akademi, and represented Punjab on Nehru's Council for National Integration.

Key moments

• 1924 to 1925: during the Jaito Morcha the Encyclopaedia says the government was ready to open talks through Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and Bhai Jodh Singh but would not restore the deposed Maharaja of Nabha. He displayed exceptional parliamentary talent in carrying the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925 through the Punjab Legislative Council, the Encyclopaedia says; its entry on the Act says the bill was moved by Sardar Tara Singh of Moga on 7 May 1925 and piloted by Bhai Jodh Singh.
• July 1955: after the police entered the Darbar Sahib complex on 4 July, the SGPC's history says the Akali Dal set up its own inquiry committee, with the retired judge Teja Singh, Bhai Jodh Singh and Kanwar Dalip Singh as members.
• 24 October 1955: he was one of five Akali negotiators in the first parley with the government's nominees, with Master Tara Singh, Giani Kartar Singh, Hukam Singh and Gian Singh Rarewala, and was asked to explain the language problem; Bawa Harkishan Singh, named as a sixth colleague, joined their private talks afterwards.
• 11 March 1956: with Giani Kartar Singh and Ajit Singh Sarhadi he was especially persuasive at the Akali Dal's meeting at Amritsar that voted on the Regional Formula.
• 4 January 1961: The Encyclopaedia says Kairon freed Master Tara Singh on 4 January 1961 on the advice of Bhai Jodh Singh, an old teacher of college days with whom he often took counsel in moments of crisis.
• 1961 to 1962: nominated to the Punjabi University Commission under Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, which reported in 1961. Punjabi University opened at Patiala in 1962 with him, at 80, as its first Vice-Chancellor.
• 1966: awarded the Padma Bhushan. 4 December 1981: dies at Ludhiana.

Remembered for: a lifetime of scholarship and counsel: the man who piloted the Gurdwaras Act through the Legislative Council in 1925, and the elder statesman whom both the Akali leaders and Chief Minister Kairon consulted in the Punjabi Suba years.