Beant Singh (19 February 1922 – 31 August 1995) was an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

from 1992 to 1995. He was a member of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. He was assassinated in a

suicide bombing A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

Early life

Beant was born in Jhajj

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Family from Bilaspur village near Doraha in Ludhiana District. The family migrated to Canal colonies of the West Punjab but shifted to village Kotli (Kotla Afghana) near Payal in the Ludhiana district after partition. He completed his education from the

Government College Lahore The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Gov ...

. At the age of 23, he joined the army but after two years of service, decided to make a switch to politics and social work.

Political career

After the 1947 partition, Beant Singh entered the Punjab politics. In 1960 he was elected chairman of block ''samiti'' (committee) of Doraha, in Ludhiana district. After serving for some time as Director of the Central cooperative bank in Ludhiana, Beant Singh entered the Punjab

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...

(assembly) as an independent candidate in 1969.

Assassination

Beant Singh was assassinated in a bomb blast at the secretariat complex in Chandigarh on 31 August 1995. The blast claimed the lives of 17 others including 3 Indian commandos. Beant Singh was accompanied by his close friend Ranjodh Singh Mann on the day of assassination. Dilawar Singh Babbar of

Babbar Khalsa International Babbar Khalsa International (BKI, pa, ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, ), better known as Babbar Khalsa, is an organisation whose main objective is to create an independent Sikh country, Khalistan. It operates in Canada, Germany and the United ...

acted as the

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

; later, the backup bomber Balwant Singh Rajoana was also convicted of the killing. In 2012, a Chandigarh court sentenced Rajoana to death. A number of Sikhs protested against the decision, and campaigned to stop the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana. On 28 March 2012 the

Government Of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

stayed the execution of Rajoana after Punjab Chief Minister

Parkash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal ( pa, ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਾਦਲ; born 8 December 1927) 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 i ...

met President

Pratibha Patil Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...

seeking clemency for him. On 7 January 2015, Jagtar Singh alias Tara who is alleged to be the mastermind in assassination of Singh was arrested by

Thai Police The Royal Thai Police (RTP) ( th, สำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ; ) is the national police force of Thailand. The RTP employs between 210,700 and 230,000 officers, roughly 17 percent of all civil servants (excludi ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

after a request by the Indian investigative agency (

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

). Tara is currently undergoing a trial in an Indian prison.

Personal life

His son Tej Parkash Singh was minister in the Punjab government led by

Harcharan Singh Brar Harcharan Singh Brar (21 January 1922 – 6 September 2009) was an Indian politician belonging to the Punjab unit of Indian National Congress. He was the 13th Chief Minister of Punjab and held this position from 31 August 1995 to 21 Novembe ...

who succeeded him. His daughter Gurkanwal Kaur is a former minister of state for social welfare and Parliamentary secretary in the

Amarinder Singh Captain Amarinder Singh (born 11 March 1942), is an Indian politician, military historian, former royal and Indian Army veteran who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Punjab. A former Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab and Member ...

government. His grandson

Ravneet Singh Ravneet Singh Bittu is an Indian politician. He previously served as the leader of Indian National Congress in Lok Sabha from 11 March 2021 to 18 July 2021. Bittu was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India from Ludhian ...

is an MP from Ludhiana. Another grandson, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, is an MLA from Khanna. Another grandson Guriqbal Singh is DSP Punjab Police. His wife died in 2010.

References

Bibliography

*(1995). "Beant Singh." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. 4 September. *Burns, John (1995). "New Violence in India." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. 1 September. *Dahlberg, John-Thor (1995). "Punjabi Minister Killed by Car Bomb in India." ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. 1 September. *Tully, Mark (1995). "Beant Singh; Claws of the Lion." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. 4 September. {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Beant 1995 deaths 1922 births Chief ministers from Indian National Congress People from Punjab, India Chief Ministers of Punjab, India Assassinated Indian politicians People murdered in Chandigarh Punjabi people Punjab, India MLAs 1992–1997 Terrorism victims in India Victims of Sikh terrorism Suicide bombing in the Punjab insurgency Deaths by car bomb in India Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India