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 and 9th Chief Minister of Punjab.

He was the first Sikh to become president.

Born in Sandhwan in the princely state of Faridkot, Singh trained to be a granthi and was given the title of giani, meaning a learned man, while training at the Sikh Missionary School in Amritsar.

Singh was associated with peasant agitations and the movement seeking a representative government in Faridkot.

Jarnail Singh was born in Sandhwan, Faridkot district on 5 May 1916 to Kishan Singh and Ind Kaur, as the youngest of their five children.

He was a Ramgarhia Sikh, belonging to a caste associated with carpentry.

Although his formal education ended with matriculation, Singh trained to be a granthi and studied at the Shaheed Sikh Missionary College in Amritsar where he was given the title of giani as a mark of his knowledge of the scriptures.

Although his grasp of English was less than fluent, he was known for his earthy speeches in the Urdu and Punjabi languages.

He married Pardhan Kaur with whom he had three daughters and a son.

His nephew, Kultar Singh Sandhwan, became speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 2022.

In 1936, Singh was imprisoned for a year for his participation in the Kisan Morcha.

His political activism in the Praja Mandal, an organisation allied with the Indian National Congress, saw him sentenced to solitary confinement between 1938 and 1943.

He led a flag satyagraha and formed a parallel government in Faridkot State which were called off only after the intervention of Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel.

The stints in jail inspired him to change his name to Zail Singh.

In 1938, he founded the Praja Mandal, a political organisation allied to the All India States Peoples' Conference, in Faridkot.

The Mandal sought the establishment of an elected government in the princely state – a demand rejected by its ruler, Sir Harinder Singh Brar.

Singh was jailed between 1938 and 1943, spending time in solitary confinement in a Faridkot prison.

Upon his release in 1943, he was forced to leave Faridkot but took up the cause of the people's movement in Faridkot outside the state.

It is during his time in prison that Singh changed his name from Jarnail Singh to Zail Singh.

In 1946, he launched a satyagraha against the Faridkot government and was involved in the Flag agitation of that year for which he was imprisoned.

After independence, Faridkot was merged with the Patiala and East Punjab States Union and Singh served as its minister of revenue and agriculture during 1949–51 and oversaw the introduction of land reforms in Punjab.

He had served as president of PEPSU Pradesh Congress Committee during 1955–56 and became president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee in 1966 serving in that post until his election as chief minister of Punjab in 1972.

Singh was a member of the Rajya Sabha during 1956–62 and member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly during 1962–67 during which time he served briefly as a minister under Partap Singh Kairon.

As chief minister, Singh is credited with having established India’s first semiconductor manufacturing unit in Mohali, legislating the Punjab Land Reforms Act of 1972, ensuring reservation for Mazhabi Sikhs and Valmikis in education and public employment and repatriating the remains of Udham Singh which were then cremated in Punjab with state honours.

Singh’s policies aimed to undercut the influence of the Shiromani Akali Dal party by championing Sikh religious causes.

Following the defeat of the Congress party in the elections of 1977, Singh and Sanjay Gandhi extended political and financial support to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a radical Sikh preacher.

Bhindranwale soon became the flagbearer of Sikh separatism and an insurgency seeking the establishment of Khalistan broke out in Punjab.

Elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980, Singh was appointed India’s home minister by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

His tenure witnessed the worsening of the insurgency in Punjab where his rivalry with the state's new chief minister and support for Bhindranwale prevented resolute action against the insurgents.

In 1982, he was elected president of India, succeeding Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.

The initial years of his presidency saw the Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

After Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister, relations with Singh turned frosty as Gandhi refused to meet with or inform Singh on matters of policy and placing curbs on his foreign and domestic travels.

Singh hit back by questioning government policy and subjecting proposals sent to him to minute scrutiny.

In 1986, he employed a pocket veto on the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill passed by Parliament.

Allegations of corruption in the procurement of howitzers from Bofors, the government’s refusal to furnish the documents sought for by President Singh and his much-publicized reproach to the government led to speculation that Singh intended to dismiss the government of Rajiv Gandhi.

Singh however retired at the end of his tenure in 1987 and was succeeded as president by R. Venkataraman.

Singh died in 1994 of injuries sustained in a road accident.

His samadhi is at the Ekta Sthal in Delhi.

Singh’s memoirs were published in 1997.

His birth centenary was celebrated in 2016 where a documentary film and a book on his life were released.