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ranjitjat
April 2nd, 2004, 09:26 PM
A colossus who strode the Punjab scene
Honesty was a byword for G.S. Tohra


Silently and without ado, Sardar Gurcharan Singh Tohra, the uncrowned King of rural Punjab and the Sikhs, has passed away into the night. There will be today, possibly no trumpets, loud cheers or gaudy spectacle to accompany him as he makes his last journey in his native place. But then, in keeping with his entire lifestyle, philosophy and spartan nature, his final farewell had to be but only in this manner.

There is little doubt in my mind that in the vast multitudes that make their way behind his bier through the sun-drenched wheatfields of his beloved Punjab where he grew up and kept his tryst with destiny, there will be many a moist eye and a heavy heart, in seeing a real Titan of a man go by. The Messiah of the small peasant and the struggling farmer of Punjab has just ridden into history. And for you all his followers, the sons of the soil and the toiling masses of the country, it is time to rise and offer the grand old man of village India a well-deserved salute.

Rising from a humble beginning and graduating from Lahore, Tohra, a grassroot man who never left his roots, worked his way up to the longest reign any President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has ever had. Some called him the Pope who went on ruling eternally, and others within the Akali party and out of it, very often did not take kindly to his forthright approach in dealing with matters pertaining to the politico-religious affairs of the Sikhs in every conceivable plane.

Though his forte was the religious domain, his hawk-eyed and politically trained eye encompassed the very vitals of the Sikh community, in their journey towards their place in the sun in post-independent India. Tohra saw the inside of many a jail in his ride to the top. Right from 1945 onwards when he was interned during the Riyasti Praja Mandal Movement in Nabha state to the time of Operation Bluestar in 1984, Tohra was never ever far away from the vigorous infighting and jockeying for power within the Akali Dal and all their interface with the other regional and national parties in the region.

A confidant of the senior Akali leadership, and regarded as the wise and experienced old man of the Sikhs, Tohra’s paramount position was only challenged twice. Once when Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderwale was all powerful, and the next time when the totally avoidable split in the Akali Dal took place leading to his parting of ways with Parkash Singh Badal. This writer is privy to and witness to some of the unending efforts made at the time of the split by like-minded people like former Lt-Governor Lt-Col Partap Singh Gill, Tohra and a few others endeavouring to close the divide and heal the rift. But despite their best efforts, the breach was never sealed. The political scenario in Punjab today would have been quite different had Tohra and Badal buried the hatchet in time.

What kind of a person would the present generation mark out Tohra to be? Few, even within his detractors, would in their heart of hearts deny the sacrifices that he along with the others had made during the Emergency (1975-77) and the Dharam Yudh Morcha.

Tohra relentlessly fought for the betterment of the marginalised farming community, owning an acre or two of land. He was the knight of the small peasant and a scourge of the rich and the affluent within his own party, who with all the resources and money at their disposal, very often succeeded in not only having their say in the party but also within the SGPC and many of its affiliated institutions. The Yodha of the small farmers has today left and his void will not be easy to fill.

Tohra will be remembered for being an honest man as also for his honesty of purpose in whatever he did. If he ever failed, it was not because he had taken a devious route or an unprincipled stand.

Tohra came into this world with little to show in regard to money and property. He left with even less. This is a habit many of our leaders in the country could try and emulate. Tohra leaves behind a family that will in all probability have to slog it out in the fields to make both ends meet.

When will the Sikhs again have the likes of Master Tara Singh, Udham Singh Nagoke and Darshan Singh Pheruman? These gentlemen gave their all for their people, the State and their country. In Punjab and Sikh politics, it has always been a fight for power and position between the pro-small peasant parties and the pro-rich farmer lobby, where invariably the former lose out because of their smaller holdings and lesser political and financial clout. Tohra, a small farmer himself and his whole life an open book in austerity, frugal living and hardly any bank balance to his credit, is a good example of what some of our leaders should look like.

Gurcharan Singh Tohra may have left us but there are some tasks that all well-meaning Sikhs, whether they tie the white or the blue turban, whether they stay in India or abroad, whether they are Amritdharis or Sehajdharis, and whether they believe in any isms or ideologies, have to accomplish in all seriousness. Tohra would have wanted it that way.

The Sikh identity has to be protected and this in itself is of no threat to any other religion or group. The reverred Akal Takht has to always remain at the highest pedestal of the Sikh faith, learning and ethos. Here again, this unassailable position of the Akal Takht does in no way affect any other religion or community unless, of course, they are bent on creating ripples between the other reverred Takhts and surely they do not want that.

The SGPC will have to find place for educated men and women with a vision and a working knowledge of how the modern-day world functions. Our missionaries and religious teachers must be capable of going out across the high seas and all over India and in debate and learning be able to hold out with honour and distinction in their professed fields. And in a slight variation to what Tohra would have possibly advocated, a prayer that we now look after our Gurudwaras that already exist and devote our energies to the setting up of more schools, colleges and medical facilities in our villages and urban centres so that tomorrow’s generations will not be found wanting in scholarship and opportunity with their other brethren in the country.

Tohra performed his last kar seva on this earth a few days back. Some of what he had set out to do remains unachieved. Are we ready to carry on his leftover legacy? This will be a befitting tribute by the Sikhs and a prosperous Punjab to their selfless leader.

May God bless his soul.
A lesson to all- How to serve a KAUM & NATION
Dharmpal

sindhu
April 3rd, 2004, 09:19 PM
Very well said,

He was a son of soil. A true leader of masses. Such a simple person I have not seen. I happen to to see him one time at his home in Tohra village and was so touched by the simplicity he maintained. Being so high in his political status and head of such a rich institution, the lust of money has not even touched him. Having such a simple and honest leader is a god's gift. Finding such a leader again, Punjab has to wait for ages.

Sindhu