Master Gurbanta Singh (4 August 1904 – 5 February 1980) was an Indian politician, educationist and social reformer from

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 ...

, India. He was a former member of the Unionist Party and then

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 ...

. Master Gurbanta Singh was one of the tallest Dalit leaders of Punjab.

Early life

Master Gurbanta Singh was born in

Dhaliwal Dhaliwal may refer to; Villages in Punjab, India *Dhaliwal, Nakodar, Jalandhar district * Dhaliwal Bet, Kapurthala district * Dhaliwal Dona, Kapurthala district * Mand Dhaliwal, Kapurthala district Other uses *Dhaliwal (surname) Dhaliwal is a c ...

village,

Jullundur Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

, in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He completed his education at Jalandhar and became a school teacher at Sain Dass A.S Senior Secondary School (Jalandhar). His political career started when he became village sarpanch. After the influence of the Ad Dharm movement, he declared himself Ad Dharmi in the 1931 census along with other Dalits of Punjab, especially in Doaba.

Ad-Dharm Movement

In the mid-1920s, Gurbanta Singh came into contact with

Mangu Ram Mugowalia Mangu Ram (14 January 1886 – 22 April 1980), known popularly as Babu Mangu Ram Chaudhry, was an Indian freedom fighter, a politician from Punjab and one of the founder members of the Ghadar Party. In 1909, he immigrated to the United State ...

, a fellow caste man and also a founder member of the

Ghadar Party The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the Unite ...

. Mangu Ram had started the Ad-Dharm movement and established many mandals in the Doaba region of Punjab, where Dalits formed a major share of the population. Although in the initial years, Singh's closeness to the movement was because of oppression and illiteracy among Dalits of Punjab, later, he fully got involved in this social movement and became General Secretary of Ad-Dharm Mandal of Jalandhar. Both Mangu Ram and Gurbanta Singh took the Ad-Dharm movement to its zenith, and it became the most successful Dalit reform movement in North India. At the same time, he joined Unionist Party and fought the election unsuccessfully. After years of long contributions to the movement but due to differences with Seth Kishan Dass, another prominent leader of the Ad-Dharm movement, he left the Mandal and became active in politics.

Politics

Master Gurbanta Singh again fought elections from Jullundur (Reserved Seat) and became successful. He was made Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of

Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana KCSI, OBE ( pa, ; 7 August 1900 – 20 January 1975) was an Indian statesman, army officer, and landowner who served as the prime minister of the Punjab Province of British India between 1942 a ...

(Premier of Punjab). In 1947, India gained independence, and he joined

. He fought elections in 1952 and 1957 also but lost elections. In 1962, he won from the Kartarpur constituency and was chosen as a Minister in the Cabinet of Chief Minister Pratap Singh Kairon from 1956 to 1964. He became Agriculture Minister of Punjab and played an instrumental role in establishing Punjab Agricultural University (Ludhiana), which paved the way for the Green Revolution in India and was a key player in the construction of the

Bhakra Dam Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bhakra Village near Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. The dam, located at a gorge near the (now submerged ...

. In the 1972 Punjab Assembly Elections, Gurbanta Singh was elected unopposed and joined the Ministry of

Giani Zail Singh Giani Zail Singh (, born Jarnail Singh; 5 May 1916 – 25 December 1994) was an Indian politician from Punjab who served as the seventh president of India from 1982 to 1987. He was the first Sikh and the first person from a backward caste to bec ...

(former Chief Minister of Punjab). He became a Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly six times and slowly became known as the biggest Dalit leader of Punjab. In those times, even the

Republican Party of India The Republican Party of India (RPI, often called the Republican Party or simply Republican) is a political party in India. It has its roots in the Scheduled Castes Federation led by B. R. Ambedkar. The 'Training School for Entrance to Polit ...

, founded by Dr B R Ambedkar himself became small in front of his stature.

Gurbanta's political clan

Master Gurbanta's family is known to be one of Punjab's most prominent political families. His elder son,

Chaudhary Jagjit Singh Chaudhary (or Choudhary ; also: Chaudhuri, Choudhuary, Chowdhury) is a hereditary title mainly in South Asia, mainly used by Jats, Gurjar and Bhumihars. Chowdhury (Hindi: चौधरी/चौधुरी/चौधारी; Urdu: چودھری ...

, became his successor who became a Zila Parishad member of

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

and later became a five-time MLA from Kartarpur constituency and then a Minister in the cabinets of Beant Singh,

Rajinder Kaur Bhattal Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (born 30 September 1945) is an Indian politician and member of Indian National Congress, Congress who served as the 14th List of Chief Ministers of Punjab (India), Chief Minister of Punjab from 1996 to 1997 and 2nd List o ...

and

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 ...

. His son

Chaudhary Surinder Singh Chaudhary Surinder Singh (born 30 December 1956) is an Indian politician and a member of Indian National Congress. Personal life Surinder Singh was born to Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and Gurbachan Kaur at Dhaliwal, Jalandhar, Punjab. He belongs ...

also became an MLA and a Zila Parshad member. Gurbanta's youngest son,

Santokh Singh Chaudhary Santokh Singh Chaudhary (born 18 June, 1946) is an Indian politician who is a former Cabinet Minister of Punjab and a member of parliament from Jalandhar (Lok Sabha constituency). He won the 2014 Indian general election and 2019 Indian general e ...

, became his real political successor even without his declaration and became MLA of

Phillaur Phillaur is a city and a municipal council as well as a tehsil in Jalandhar district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Punjab, India, Punjab. Overview Phillaur is the railway junction on the border line of Ludhiana Main ...

and then

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

from

. He was also made Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Vice-President of Punjab Congress, four times Cabinet Minister in Punjab govt., and a member of Central Board of Film Certification. His wife, Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, retired as Director of Public Instruction (Colleges) in the Government of Punjab and was earlier a principal of Govt. Sports and Arts College (Jalandhar). Their son Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary is currently MLA of Phillaur and has served as the President of Punjab Youth Congress and General Secretary of PPCC.

Legacy

Master Gurbanta Singh Memorial Janta College at Kartarpur,

(India) was established by him and was later renamed after him. Master Gurbanta Singh Marg at Basti Bawa Khel in

is named after him. Master Gurbanta Singh is known as a Dalit stalwart in Punjab politics, and today, Dalits are one of the politically most strong communities in Punjab due to his works.

References