Harcharan Singh Longowal
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Sant Harchand Singh Longowal (2 January 1932 – 20 August 1985) was the President of the
Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Akali Party'') is a centre-right sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are man ...
during the
Punjab insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Insurgency in Punjab , image = Punjab in India (claimed and disputed hatched).svg , caption = Affected areas coloured in Red , image_size = 300px , date ...
of the 1980s. He had signed the Punjab accord, also known as the Rajiv-Longowal Accord along with
Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...
on 24 July 1985. The government accepted most of the demands of
Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Akali Party'') is a centre-right sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are man ...
who in turn agreed to withdraw their agitation. Less than a month after signing the Punjab accord, Sant Longowal was assassinated by Gyan Singh Leel and Jarnail Singh Halvara.


Early years

Sant Harchand Singh Longowal was born on 2 January 1932, in a family of modest means living in Gidariani, a village then in the princely state of
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 ...
, but now a part of Sangrur district of
Punjab (India) Punjab (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Himachal ...
. Under the tutelage of Sant Jodh Singh at the seminary in nearby Maujo, he studied Sikh
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and Sikh texts and practised
Sikh music Sikh music, also known as Gurbani Sangeet (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ ਸੰਗੀਤ; meaning ''music of'' ''the speech of wisdom'')'','' and as Gurmat Sangeet (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਸੰਗੀਤ; meaning ''music of the counsel o ...
. As his teacher was also a member of the
Akali movement The Akali movement , also called the Gurdwara Reform Movement, was a campaign to bring reform in the gurdwaras (the Sikh places of worship) in India during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of the Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, w ...
, it is likely that young Harchand also imbibed the spirit of
political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
at that time. Leaving Maujo at the age of twenty-one, Harchand Singh served as
scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
-reader and custodian at the village
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 ...
at
Heron Kalan The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
, moving the following year to
Longowal Longowal is a town with municipal council in Sangrur district in the Indian state of Punjab. Longowal is unique in the history of East Punjab. Overview Longowal village was first brought into existence by Baba Alla ji Singh, in whose name a ver ...
, a small town 16 kilometers south-west of
Sangrur Sangrur is a city in Sangrur district of the Indian state of Punjab, India. It is the headquarters of Sangrur District. Geography Sangrur is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres (778 feet). Climate Health s ...
. There, he raised a gurdwara in the memory of celebrated eighteenth-century scholar and martyr, Bhai Mani Singh. In 1962, Harchand Singh was named head of the important historical shrine at
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 ...
(Talwandi Sabo), but he took on the suffix "Longowal" which remained with him for the rest of his life. He was affectionately known as "Sant Ji"


Beginnings of political activism

Sant Longowal's life of political activism began in June 1964, when he led a demonstration for Sikh rights at the historic site of Paonta Sahib in the present-day state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1965, Sant Longowal became the president of the Akali organization in Sangrur district and a member of the working committee of the
Shiromani Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Akali Party'') is a centre-right sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Congress, being founded in 1920. Although there are many ...
. In 1969, he was elected to the Punjabi Legislative Assembly as the Akali candidate, defeating the Congress Party's Babu Brish Bhan, who had been chief minister of
Patiala and East Punjab States Union Patiala () is a city in southeastern 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'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') constructe ...
(PEPSU). In June 1975, the Allahabad High Court annulled election of
Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
, the then Prime Minister; she, instead of resigning, imposed the Internal Emergency and arrested thousands of leaders of opposition parties. Although no Akali leader had been arrested but the organisation decided to launch an agitation against suppression of civil liberties. In July 1975, all the senior Akali leaders courted arrest and Sant Harcharnd Singh Longowal took over the command of the agitation which continued till January 1977. In the 1978 bye election to Lok Sabha (the Lower House), Sant Harchand Singh was offered the Akali nomination for Faridkot constituency but he declined the offer. He got Balwant Singh Ramoowalia to contest instead, who was elected from the seat.


1980s: Civil disobedience

In 1980, Longowal was recalled to preside over the Akali party. In this role, he organized large-scale campaigns of civil disobedience to win concessions from India's Central Government on the longstanding grievances of Punjab, and especially the Sikhs of Punjab. Longowal led the Akali side in years of frustrating negotiations with Mrs. Gandhi, talks that served to undermine public faith in the course of peaceful dialogue with the government. This, in turn strengthened the hand of extremists and separatists. In December 1983 Longowal invited sikh fundamentalist
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal. He was not an advocate of Khalistan. "Bhindranwale was not an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, ...
to take up residence in Golden Temple Complex at the
Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...
Niwas and later on in an adjacent building next to
Akal Takht The Akal Takht ("Throne of the Timeless One") is one of five takhts (seats of power) of the Sikhs. It is located in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab, India. The Akal Takht (originally called Akal Bunga) was built by ...
. He called the tough-minded Bhindranwale "our stave to beat the government." The peaceful campaign to achieve justice from the central Indian government began 4 August 1982 under the leadership of the Akali party president, Harchand Singh Longowal and six other members of a designated high command, namely
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 ...
—former Chief Minister of Punjab,
Gurcharan Singh Tohra Panth Rattan Shiri Gurcharan Singh Tohra (24 September 1924 – 1 April 2004) was a president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a Sikh body in charge of controlling Gurdwara (Sikh places of worship). He died of a heart attack ...
—President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Surjit Singh Barnala—former Union Agriculture Minister, Sukhjinder Singh—former Punjab Minister, and
Ravi Inder Singh Ravi Inder Singh Mehra (born 4 November 1987) is an Indian cricketer. He plays for Punjab in the Indian domestic cricket. He is a left-hand batsman and part-time offbreak bowler. In 2018 he signed for Pokhara Premier League in Nepal, where h ...
—former Speaker of the Punjab Legislature. All in all, it endured some twenty-two months and saw the arrest of more than 200,000 demonstrators in Amritsar. The overall campaign was marked by several individual demonstrations. One of the earliest had an unexpected outcome. When Longowal declared that Sikhs would demonstrate against the Central Government's injustices at the opening of the Asian Games scheduled to begin in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
on 19 November 1982, the Prime Minister called on the Chief Minister of
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
to prevent Sikhs traveling by road or rail from neighbouring Punjab to Delhi. The Haryana police did this and in the process caused inconvenience to the civilians and army officers coming to the games. Harbans Singh, On 4 January 1983 there was a mass stoppage of traffic on the major highways. On 17 June 1983 rail traffic was halted by large-scale protests. A statewide work stoppage was held on 29 August 1983. On 26 January 1984, article 25(a) of the constitution, indicating Sikhs are Hindus, was publicly burned. Finally, Longowal announced that as of 3 June 1984 would practice civil disobedience by refusing to pay land revenue, water and electricity bills, and block the flow of grain out of Punjab.Singh, p. 341 The Sikh coalition in opposition to the Central Government held together until September 1983, when the increasing frustrations of negotiating with the Prime Minister began to take its toll in a growing division between Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Jagdev Singh Talwandi (refusing to pay land revenue, water and electricity bills, Harchand Singh Longowal.


Operation Bluestar

During
Operation Blue Star Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of ...
, the Indian army in 1984, killed the Khalistan extremists lodged inside the Golden temple complex. The army operation happened between 1–6 June 1984. During that time, the Army escorted Sant Longowal among other leaders out of the complex.


Punjab Accord

Finally, in March 1985, the leadership of the Akali party began to be released from prison under orders from the new prime minister
Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...
. With a view to improving the situation and creating the conditions for a negotiated settlement of Sikh demands, the prime minister's confidante, Arjun Singh who was posted as the Governor of the state, also relaxed the censorship on the Punjabi press, withdrew army control over certain districts, announced his willingness to institute a judicial enquiry into the November 1984 killings, lifted the ban on the
All India Sikh Students Federation The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), is a Sikh student organisation and political organisation in India. AISSF was formed in 1943. as the youth wing of the Akali Dal, which is a Sikh political party in the Indian Punjab. Origin Befor ...
and agreed to review the cases of thousands of Sikhs imprisoned since the army's arrival in Punjab the previous June. Within a few days, the first 53 were released. A few days later, Rajiv made an effort to address the economic woes of Punjab, with its diminishing acreages and burgeoning unemployment by announcing the establishment of a rail coach factory at Kapurthala, Punjab which would need about 20,000 people. Then, after weeks of secret negotiations, Harcharnd Singh Longowal met the Prime Minister in Delhi and on 23 July 1985 signed an eleven-point memorandum covering all the major issues which had defied resolution since the Akalis had first presented their list of demands.Singh, p. 395 The accord attracted opposition from several orthodox Sikh leaders 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 ...
as well as from the politicians of
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
. Some of its promises could not be fulfilled due to the disagreements.


Death

Less than a month after signing the Punjab accord, Longowal was assassinated by the Sikhs opposed to the accord. Longowal was shot and killed on 20 August 1985 near the gurdwara in village Sherpur, 90 km from Patiala in Punjab. Assassin Gyan Singh Leel and Jarnail Singh Halvara fired bullets from a
point-blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...
at Longowal. The bullets had pierced his abdomen causing his death. His cremation took place on 21 August.


See also

* 1984 Sikh genocide


References


Cited sources

*
Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...
(2004) ''A History of the Sikhs'', Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi; Oxford University Press. p. 355.


External links

*http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70711FA3D5F0C728EDDA10894DD484D81&n=Top/News/World/Countries%20and%20Territories/India *https://web.archive.org/web/20090220094914/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2326/stories/20070112002712000.htm *http://www.gurbani.net/community/Articles/harchandsingh.php *https://www.deutsches-informationszentrum-sikhreligion.de/1984_de.php – The double role of Harchand Singh Longowal {{DEFAULTSORT:Longowal, Harchand Singh 1932 births 1985 deaths 1985 murders in India Assassinated Indian politicians People from Punjab, India Sikh politics Victims of the insurgency in Punjab People murdered in Punjab, India Deaths by firearm in India Shiromani Akali Dal politicians Victims of Sikh terrorism