Jiwan Singh Umranangal (1914-1998) was an Indian politician belonging to the Akali Dal. He served as the revenue minister of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

. He is the grandfather of Paramraj Singh Umranangal, a senior IPS Officer of the Punjab Cadre. Jiwan Singh was born in 1914, in the Dhaliwal Bet village of the

Kapurthala district Kapurthala district is a district of Punjab state in northern India. The city of Kapurthala is the district headquarters. Kapurthala District is one of the smallest districts of Punjab in terms of both area and population, with 815,168 people ...

. He passed

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

from the Kapurthala High School. Originally an agriculturalist by profession, he adopted politics as a career in 1952, becoming a member of the Akali Dal. He became a

sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

and a ''nambardar'' (village head) of his native village Umra Nangal. He later served as the General Secretary of Akali Dal, and ultimately became the party's Vice President. Jiwan Singh was elected to the

Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab (India), Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 ...

in 1968, 1977 and 1980. He served as the Revenue Minister under

Gurnam Singh Gurnam Singh (25 February 1899 – 31 May 1973) was an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Punjab from 8 March 1967 to 25 November 1967, and again between 17 February 1969 to 27 March 1970. He was the first Shiromani Akali Dal Ch ...

in 1968 and as Finance Minister under

Parkash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal ( pa, ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਾਦਲ; born 8 December 1927) is an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Punjab state from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017. He ...

in 1977. He won the

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC; "Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee") is an organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the unio ...

(SGPC) elections three times, and served on its executive committee for 12 years. In the 1979 SGPC election, he defeated the

AISSF The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), is a Sikh student organisation and political organisation in India. AISSF was formed in 1943. as the youth wing of the Akali Dal, which is a Sikh political party in the Indian Punjab. Origin Bef ...

president

Amrik Singh Amrik Singh (1948 – June 6, 1984) was the President of the All India Sikh Students Federation. He was killed in the Indian Army's operation on the Golden Temple on June 6, 1984. Amrik Singh was the son of Giani Kartar Singh Bhindranwale, the ...

, who was backed by

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal. He was not an advocate of Khalistan. "Bhindranwale was not an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, ...

. He became a close associate of the senior Akali leader Fateh Singh. Jiwan Singh took a strong stand against the pro-Khalistan militants. In 1986, he embarked on a door-to-door campaign in the

Majha Majha (Punjabi: ਮਾਝਾ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi); ''Mājhā'') is a region located in the central parts of the historical Punjab region split between India and Pakistan. It extends north from the right banks of the river Beas, and reaches ...

region, meeting the families of the militants and asking for their help in persuading the militants to give up the violence. He also launched a 45-day

padayatra A padayatra ( sa, पादयात्रा, pādayātrā, journey by foot, translit-std=ISO) is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning ...

, visiting those who had moved out of Punjab due to the violence, and convinced them to return. In retaliation, the militants killed his son Sukhdev Singh Umranangal on 8 May 1987. He accused the SGPC of having failed to stop the intolerance and the hate campaigns in the community. He then left Akali Dal because of its leaders' ambiguous stand on the militant violence, and set up his own party "Jagat Akali Dal" on 21 January 1992. He later merged his party back into Akali Dal in February 1998. Jiwan Singh was awarded

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 ...

(1991) and the National Amity Award (1996) by the Government of India. He also received the Maharana Partap Award in 1987. He died at the age of 84 at a hospital in

Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh with parts in villages Dholo Nangal and Wazir Bhullar. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umranangal, Jiwan Singh 1914 births 1998 deaths Punjabi people Indian Sikhs Shiromani Akali Dal politicians State cabinet ministers of Punjab, India Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs