Satyapal Dang (1920–2013) was an

Indian independence activist The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

, writer and later-day politician from Punjab. He was a legislator of Punjab State Legislative Assembly, representing the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

for four terms and a Minister of Food and Civil Supplies in the United Front ministry led by Justice Gurnam Singh. He was also involved in trade union movement in India, aligning with the

All India Trade Union Congress The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India. It is associated with the Communist Party of India. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, AITUC had a membership of 14.2 mill ...

(AITUC). The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 1998, for his contributions to society.

Biography

Satyapal Dang was born on 4 October 1920 in

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

of the erstwhile Punjab Province, British India and did his early schooling in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

. Getting involved in the

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...

during his student days, he worked with the leftist wing of the

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 ...

in the beginning but moved the

and became an active worker in the ''Bombay Commune'' of the party in the 1940s. Later, he became the general secretary of the All India Students Federation at the age of 25, and participated in the 1st Party Congress hed in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in 1943. It was during this time, he had the opportunity to work alongside Vimla Bakaya, an associate from his student days who would later marry him in 1952. After the Indian independence and in the aftermath of

Calcutta Thesis Calcutta Thesis is the popular name for the resolution adopted by 2nd Congress of the Communist Party of India held at Kolkata in 1948. Overview The Communist Party of India's second congress at Calcutta on 28 February 1948, the Zhdanov line o ...

and resultant insurgencies, the party was banned and when the ban was lifted, Dang couple were entrusted with the responsibility of working amidst the working class in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

region. The couple relocated to

Chheharta Sahib Chheharta Sahib is a town located 7 km Tara Singh, "Sri Gur Tirath Sangarahi" west of Amritsar city of Punjab, India, Punjab in India, on the Grand Trunk Road leading to the Pakistan border. The town derives its name from the Gurudwara Chheh ...

, a village near Amritsar and in 1953, when the first local election was held, Dang became the president of Chheharta Municipality. Dang was involved with the local politics of

for the next decade and a half, heading the municipality several times and working to develop the place into a model town. The shift in focus came in 1967 when he was asked by the Party to participate in the state elections and he successfully contested from Amritsar West constituency against

Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir (15 January 1899 – 18 January 1976) was an Indian politician and Punjabi language writer. He was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1 November 1966 to 8 March 1967. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in Pun ...

, the then Chief Minister of Punjab. The United Front which included the

won majority in the elections and Dang joined the coalition ministry led by Justice Gurnam Singh as the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies. It is reported that he declined to use the ministerial bungalow and chose to stay in the MLA hostel during his tenure as the minister. He retained the seat in the next three legislative assembly elections held in 1969, 1972 and 1977 but lost in the 1980 election to Sewa Ram Arora, but his wife would regain the seat in 1982. In the 1980s, during the

Khalistan movement The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cur ...

, Dang was known to have worked against the secessionism, with his base at ''Ekta Bhawan'', a centre he had built in Chheharta. He also published two books, ''Terrorism In Punjab'', a book detailing his views on the Punjab crisis and ''State Religion and Politics'', an analytical report on religion and politics with reference to the politics of Punjab and Kashmir. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the

in 1998. Towards the later years of his life, he was afflicted with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

and retired from active politics after the death of Vimla Dang in 2009. He died on 6 June 2013, at the age 92, at the Amritsar home of his nephew. The Dang couple were issueless, reportedly by their own choice. ''Once Upon a Time in Chheharta'', a feature-length documentary made by Nakul Singh Sawhney documents the life and work of Satyapal and Vimla Dang in Chheharta.

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