Sant Fateh Singh

Sant Fateh Singh was the Sikh holy man who became the dominant Akali leader of the 1960s and led the Punjabi Suba agitation to its goal. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he enjoyed wide religious esteem and, in the latter part of his career, became a dominant political figure.

He was born on 27 October 1911, the son of Bhai Channan Singh of Badiala in present-day Bathinda district. He had no formal schooling and began learning to read Punjabi at fifteen. He studied under Sant Ishar Singh of Sekha near Barnala, then moved with Sant Channan Singh to Ganganagar district in Bikaner, where Sikh peasants had settled in a new canal colony. From Budha Johad he went from village to village preaching and giving amrit, and he helped build gurdwaras, schools, colleges and an orphanage. He never married.

Key moments

• 1955 to 1956: he joined the Punjabi Suba agitation led by Master Tara Singh and rose fast, becoming senior vice-president of the Shiromani Akali Dal by October 1958. On 15 March 1959 he led a march of Sikhs in New Delhi.
• May 1960: he took charge of the movement. The Encyclopaedia credits him with orderly leadership of a seven-month agitation in which, by one estimate, 57,129 Akali volunteers courted arrest.
• 18 December 1960: he began a fast unto death. On 9 January 1961, after twenty-two days, he ended it, when a statement by Prime Minister Nehru was judged satisfactory by Master Tara Singh, the Akali Working Committee and the Panj Piare.
• July 1962: he formed his own Akali Dal against Master Tara Singh. On 2 October 1962 it took control of the SGPC, and in the gurdwara elections of 17 January 1965 it won 90 of the elected seats against 45 for Tara Singh.
• 16 August 1965: he proclaimed from Sri Akal Takht Sahib that he would start a fast on 10 September and, if his demand was not met by the sixteenth day, burn himself alive. When war with Pakistan broke out he postponed the fast and appealed to the Sikhs to rally behind the government.
• 1966: a parliamentary committee under Speaker Hukam Singh recommended linguistic reorganisation (18 January), Indira Gandhi conceded the demand on 23 April, the Punjab Reorganisation Bill was introduced on 3 September, and the Punjabi-speaking state came into being on 1 November.
• 17 to 27 December 1966: he fasted again, with a threat of self-immolation on the 27th, over Chandigarh and the Punjabi-speaking areas left out. Hukam Singh and Chief Minister Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir brought assurances from Indira Gandhi, and he ended the fast on 27 December.
• 26 to 30 January 1970: a further fast over Chandigarh ended after the Union Government announced that the capital project area should go to Punjab, with conditions on Fazilka that the Akalis opposed.
• 25 March 1972: he announced his retirement from active politics. He died at Amritsar on 30 October 1972.

When the new state arrived he said, in the Encyclopaedia's words, "A handsome baby has been born into my household." He then protested that Chandigarh, built as the capital for Punjab after Partition, and some Punjabi-speaking areas had been left out. His demands were to bring Chandigarh and the Punjabi-speaking areas given to Himachal Pradesh and Haryana into Punjab, to cut the common links between Punjab and Haryana such as the governor and the high court, and to return control of Bhakra and other projects to Punjab. The Encyclopaedia adds that he became a controversial figure after 1966 and his influence began to decline.