Harpreet Singh (born 1972) is a

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 ...

preacher who is the current

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC; "Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee") is an organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the union ...

appointed

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

jathedar of the Akal Takht The Jathedar of the Akal Takht ( pa, ਜੱਥੇਦਾਰ ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ ਸਾਹਿਬ) is the head of the Akal Takht and head of the Sikhs worldwide. The jathedar has the de facto power as the supreme spokesperson of the Khalsa t ...

since 2018. He has also been serving as the

jathedar A jathedar ( pa, ਜੱਥੇਦਾਰ) is a leader of high regard chosen to head and ensure discipline within a jatha, a body of Sikhs. The Jathedar of the Akal Takht is the central head of the Sikhs worldwide, who makes all important decisions ...

Damdama Sahib The Takht Sri Darbar Sahib Damdama Sahib, Fourth Takhts or Seat of Temporal Authority of Sikhism, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib is in Talwandi Sabo in Punjab, India and is the place where Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, prepared the full ...

since 2017.

Early life and education

Harpreet Singh was born in

Giddarbaha Giddarbaha, is a town and a municipal council in Muktsar district, in the Indian state of Punjab. Under British rule During that time, it took the shape of a town from the small village and when the Britishers reached here they wrongly pronounc ...

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 ...

, to Ranjit Singh, a

granthi A Granthi ( pa, ਗ੍ਰੰਥੀ, ) is a person, female or male, of the Sikh religion who is a ceremonial reader of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, which is the Holy Book in Sikhism, often read to worshipers at Sikh temples called a Gurdwara. The na ...

of a rural

gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

and Harbhajan Kaur in May 1972. He joined Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee as a preacher in 1997 and two year later he was assigned as the head granthi of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Muktsar. Singh studied in a government school till class 12 before attending Guru Kashi Gurmat Institute in

Talwandi Sabo Talwandi Sabo is a town and Municipal Council in Bathinda district, Punjab, India. It is famous for being one of the five Takhts of Sikhism (Sikh Religious Places), Takht Sri Damdama Sahib. It is also famous for its Baisakhi, which is celebrate ...

. After finishing a one year diploma in divinity, he completed a master's degree in comparative religious studies from the

Punjabi University Punjabi University is a collegiate state public university located in Patiala, Punjab, India. It was established on 30 April 1962 and is only the second university in the world to be named after a language, after Hebrew University of Israel. ...

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

. Later, he pursued and completed a PhD in the comparative study of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib ( pa, ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and Guru Maneyo Granth, eternal Guru following the lineage of the Sikh gur ...

Jathedar of the Akal Takht (2018-present)

Sarbat Khalsa Sarbat Khalsa (lit. meaning ''all the Khalsa''; Punjabi: (Gurumukhi)), was a biannual deliberative assembly (on the same lines as a Parliament in a Direct Democracy) of the Sikhs held at Amritsar in Panjab during the 18th century. It literally t ...

held on 10 November 2015 in Amritsar dismissed

Gurbachan Singh Gurbachan Singh (10 December 1930 – 24 April 1980) was the third guru of the Sant Nirankari sect, considered to be heterodox by all Sikhs. He was born in Peshawar (modern-day Pakistan). He was declared next Baba by his father and predecessor ...

from the role of jathedar of the Akal Takht by its

gurmata A Gurmata ( Punjabi: ਗੁਰਮਤਾ, literally, 'Guru's intention' or 'advice of the Guru'), alternatively romanized as Gurumatta, is an order upon a subject that affects the fundamental principles of Sikh religion and is binding upon all Si ...

and appointed

Jagtar Singh Hawara Jagtar Singh Hawara ( pa, ਜਗਤਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਹਵਾਰਾ; born 16 May 1973) is a Sikh political prisoner and member of Babbar Khalsa who has been serving as the Sarbat Khalsa appointed jathedar of the Akal Takht since 2015. He was ...

. Due to the political imprisonment of Hawara, the

deliberative assembly A deliberative assembly is a meeting of members who use parliamentary procedure. Etymology In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the British Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the ...

appointed

Dhian Singh Mand Dhian Singh Mand (born 3 May 1961) is a Sikh politician who has been serving as the Sarbat Khalsa appointed acting jathedar of the Akal Takht The Jathedar of the Akal Takht ( pa, ਜੱਥੇਦਾਰ ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ ਸਾਹਿ� ...

as the acting jathedar. However,

Avtar Singh Makkar Avtar Singh Makkar (1943–2019) was a Punjabi politician and former President of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Life and career After the Partition of India he with his family first settled at Mustafabad then in Roorkee and finally i ...

, the then president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee condemned the convening as against the principles of Sikhism and its decisions null and void.At Sarbat Khalsa, hardliners appoint Hawara Akal Takht Jathedar
/ref> After being continuously pressured by the Sikhs to resign, Gurbachan Singh gave his resignation citing health reasons to the Shiromani Committee president

Gobind Singh Longowal Gobind Singh Longowal was elected as President of SGPC on November 29. Gobind Singh Longowal was born in year 1959 in Longowal District Sangrur. He worked as assistant with Harchand Singh Longowal from the age of seven years. In the year 1985 h ...

on 18 October 2018. The Shiromani Committee executive held a meeting at the Teja Singh Samundri Hall in Amritsar and assigned Harpreet Singh, the

Takht Sri Damdama Sahib The Takht Sri Darbar Sahib Damdama Sahib, Fourth Takhts or Seat of Temporal Authority of Sikhism, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib is in Talwandi Sabo in Punjab, India and is the place where Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, prepared the full ve ...

an additional role as the acting jathedar of the Akal Takht on 22 October 2018.

Resolution of the Patna Sahib conflict

For the resolution of a conflict since 2019 for the authority of

Takht Sri Patna Sahib Takhat Sri Patna Sahib also known as Takhat Sri Harimandir Ji, Patna Sahib, is a one of the five Takhats of the Sikhs, located in Patna, Bihar, India. The construction of the Takhat was commissioned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 18th ce ...

, Singh summoned the management to the Akal Takht. From the Akal Takht on 6 December 2022, he dismissed and ordered the immediate removal of the past conflicted jathedars Iqbal Singh and Ranjit Singh from Patna Sahib's premises and appointed Baldev Singh as the acting jathedar. He also ordered the management to record and send a video of Baldev Singh, the head granthi of Takht Sri Harmandir Ji, Patna Sahib reciting the five daily prayer from memory. The members of the management were imposed penalties and ordered to hold an election before 15 January 2023. A five member cooperation committee, comprising Dasmesh Taruna Dal jathedar Major Singh Sodhi, Shiromani Committee general secretary Gurcharan Singh Grewal, Suraj Singh Nalwa, Maharaj Singh and Ajit Singh were assigned to ensure the enforcement of the

hukamnama A Hukamnama ( Punjabi: ਹੁਕਮਨਾਮਾ, translit. ''Hukamanāmā''), in modern-times, refers to a hymn from the Guru Granth Sahib which is given as an injunction, order, or edict to Sikhs. It also refers to edicts issued by the contempo ...

. A letter signed by unauthorised persons posing as the five beloved of Takht Sri Patna Sahib refused to accept the hukamnama. However, the acting president Jagjot Singh and vice president Lakhwinder Singh of the Patna Sahib management issued a letter on 10 December 2022 supporting the hukamnama and ensured cooperation with the Akal Takht assigned five member committee.

References

{{Reflist, 2 1972 births Jathedars of the Akal Takht Living people People from Hoshiarpur district