| Zail Singh ਜ਼ੈਲ ਸਿੰਘ |
|
|---|---|
| President of India | |
| In office July 25, 1982 – July 25, 1987 |
|
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi |
| Vice President | Mohammad Hidayatullah Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Preceded by | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| Succeeded by | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office January 14, 1980 – June 22, 1982 |
|
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Yashwantrao Chavan |
| Succeeded by | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement | |
| In office March 12, 1983 – September 6, 1986 |
|
| Preceded by | Fidel Castro |
| Succeeded by | Robert Mugabe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 5, 1916 Sandhwan, British Raj |
| Died | December 25, 1994 (aged 78) Chandigarh, India |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Alma mater | Shaheed Sikh Missionary College |
| Religion | Sikhism |
Giani Zail Singh (Punjabi: ਜ਼ੈਲ ਸਿੰਘ, May 5, 1916 – December 25, 1994) was an Indian politician and member of the Congress Party. He served as the seventh President of India. His term was marked by Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. [1] He died of injuries in 1994 after a car accident.
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He was born in Sandhwan, Faridkot district on May 5, 1916 to Kishan Singh. He was a Sikh by religion, was given the title of Giani, as he was educated and learned about Guru Granth Sahib at Shaheed Sikh Missionary College in Amritsar. However, he did not have formal secular education. [2]
In 1947, with the reorganization of India along secular lines an, he opposed Harindar Singh, ruler of Faridkot State and was incarcerated and tortured for five years.[3] He was called on to be the Revenue Minister of the recently formed Patiala and East Punjab States Union, under Chief Minister Gian Singh Rarewala in 1949 and later became Minister of Agriculture in 1951. From 1956 to 1962, he was a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Zail Singh was elected as a Congress Chief Minister of Punjab in 1972. [4] He arranged massive religious gatherings, started public functions with a traditional Sikh prayer, inaugurated a highway named after Guru Gobind Singh, and named a township after the Guru's son.[5]. He created a life long pension scheme for the freedom fighters of the state. He repatriated the remains of Udham Singh from London, armaments and articles belonging to Guru Gobind Singh.
In 1980, Zail Singh was elected to the 7th Lok Sabha, and appointed to join Indira Gandhi's cabinet as Minister for Home Affairs. [1] He is believed to have worked with her to promote the personality of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale at the expense of the Akali Dal leadership.
In 1982 he was unanimously nominated to serve as the President. Nonetheless, some in the media felt that the president had been chosen for being an Indira loyalist rather than an eminent person. “If my leader had said I should pick up a broom and be a sweeper, I would have done that. She chose me to be President,”[6] Singh was quoted to have said after his election. He took the oath of office on July 25, 1982.
He served beside Gandhi, and protocol dictated that he should be briefed every week by the her on the affairs of the state. The day before Operation Blue Star, he met with Gandhi for more than an hour, but she omitted even sharing a word about her plan.[7] Following the operation he was Sikhs pressured to resign his post by Sikhs. He decided against resignation fearing to aggravate the situation on advice from Yogi Bhajan. He was subsequently called before the Akal Takhat to apologize and explain his inaction at the desecration of the Harimandir Sahib and killing of innocent Sikhs. Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, and he appointed Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister.[8]
His remaining was full of controversies on account of his soured relations with Rajiv Gandhi. During this time he ensured that the PM adhered to protocols and forced him to remove V.K. Tiwari, a minister known for his tirades against the President, both inside as well as outside the parliament. Singh refused assent of the "Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill" in 1986 to show his opposition to the bill. The bill was later withdrawn by the V.P. Singh Government in 1990. Singh is believed to have contemplated the dismissal of the Rajiv Gandhi Government due to the corruption charges leveled against the Prime Minister and kickbacks in the Bofors scandal.
On November 29, 1994 Zail Singh was involved in a serious vehicle accident near Kiratpur Sahib in Ropar District on his way to the Anandpur Sahib. He later died at the Post Graduate Institute, Chandigarh on 25 December 1994 and was cremated at the Raj Ghat Memorial near Old Delhi.[9]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Yashwantrao Chavan |
Minister of Home Affairs 1980–1982 |
Succeeded by Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| Preceded by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
President of India 1982–1987 |
|
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Fidel Castro |
Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement 1983–1986 |
Succeeded by Robert Mugabe |
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