Jiwan Singh Umranangal (1914-1998) was an Indian politician belonging to 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 ...

. He served as the revenue minister of

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

. He is the grandfather of Paramraj Singh Umranangal, a senior IPS Officer of the Punjab Cadre. Jiwan Singh was born in 1914, in the Dhaliwal Bet village of the Kapurthala district. He passed matriculation from the Kapurthala High School. Originally an agriculturalist by profession, he adopted politics as a career in 1952, becoming a member of the Akali Dal. He became a

sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

and a ''nambardar'' (village head) of his native village Umra Nangal. He later served as the General Secretary of Akali Dal, and ultimately became the party's Vice President. Jiwan Singh was elected to the

Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, di ...

in 1968, 1977 and 1980. He served as the Revenue Minister under

Gurnam Singh Gurnam Singh (25 February 1899 – 31 May 1973) was an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Punjab from 8 March 1967 to 25 November 1967, and again between 17 February 1969 to 27 March 1970. He was the first Shiromani Akali Dal Chi ...

in 1968 and as Finance Minister under Parkash Singh Badal in 1977. He won the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections three times, and served on its executive committee for 12 years. In the 1979 SGPC election, he defeated the

AISSF 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 Befo ...

president Amrik Singh, who was backed by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He became a close associate of the senior Akali leader Fateh Singh. Jiwan Singh took a strong stand against the pro-Khalistan militants. In 1986, he embarked on a door-to-door campaign in the Majha region, meeting the families of the militants and asking for their help in persuading the militants to give up the violence. He also launched a 45-day padayatra, visiting those who had moved out of Punjab due to the violence, and convinced them to return. In retaliation, the militants killed his son Sukhdev Singh Umranangal on 8 May 1987. He accused the SGPC of having failed to stop the intolerance and the hate campaigns in the community. He then left Akali Dal because of its leaders' ambiguous stand on the militant violence, and set up his own party "Jagat Akali Dal" on 21 January 1992. He later merged his party back into Akali Dal in February 1998. Jiwan Singh was awarded Padma Bhushan (1991) and the National Amity Award (1996) by the Government of India. He also received the Maharana Partap Award in 1987. He died at the age of 84 at a hospital in Beas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umranangal, Jiwan Singh 1914 births 1998 deaths Punjabi people Indian Sikhs Shiromani Akali Dal politicians State cabinet ministers of Punjab, India Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs