Sculptor of peace in Punjab

This Day, That Year: Beant Singh (1922-1995)

Sanjeev Bariana

Updated At : 08:07 AM Aug 31, 2024 IST

Beant Singh (1922-1995)

On August 31, 1995, the bomb blast that claimed the life of serving Chief Minister Beant Singh also rocked the state of Punjab. In an audacious act, a suicide bomber of the Babbar Khalsa International carried out the assassination in the vicinity of the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh, just as Beant Singh sat in his bulletproof car, which exploded, killing 17 others.

It was on February 25, 1992, that he was sworn in as the Chief Minister — after over a decade of bloodshed in the state. Amid widespread noise by rights activists and the media, Beant Singh backed his police force. The brief was clear: Put an end to terrorism in Punjab. An underlying feature of his tenure was his effort to de-glamourise militancy and change the public perception that all Sikhs wanted ‘Khalistan’. After the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, the period had seen a virtual dance of death on the streets of the state.

Born into an agricultural family at Bilaspur village near Doraha in Ludhiana district on February 19, 1922, Beant Singh graduated from Government College, Lahore. His father Capt Hazura Singh and his two brothers served in the Indian Army. He, too, joined the Army briefly before deciding to quit and enter politics.

Having served as the director of the Central Cooperative Bank in Ludhiana, Beant Singh formally entered politics in 1969, winning the Vidhan Sabha election as an Independent. He blended seamlessly in state politics after he joined the Congress in 1970, and was re-elected to the Vidhan Sabha from the Payal constituency in 1972, 1977 and 1980. In 1992, he contested successfully from Jalandhar Cantonment, and took on the mantle of Chief Minister.

The family political legacy has continued after him. His son Tej Parkash Singh was a minister in the Harcharan Singh Brar government; his daughter Gurkanwal Kaur was a minister in the Amarinder Singh government; grandson Gurkirat Kotli was an MLA in Amarinder Singh government; and more recently, his grandson Ravneet Bittu was inducted as a minister in the Modi government.