Jiwan Singh Umranangal (1914-1998) was an Indian politician belonging to the

Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Eternal Party'') is a Centre-right politics, centre-right Sikhism, Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India, Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Indian ...

. He served as the revenue minister of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. Jiwan Singh was born in 1914, in the Dhaliwal Bet village of the Kapurthala district. 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 no ...

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, gram pradhan, mukhiya, or president is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the gram sabha (village government) in India. The sarpanch, together with other elected panchay ...

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 M ...

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 6th 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 ...

in 1968 and as Finance Minister under

Parkash Singh Badal Parkash Singh Badal (8 December 1927 – 25 April 2023) was an Indian politician and Sikh rights advocate who served as the 8th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2017, the longes ...

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 the states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and ...

(SGPC) elections three times, and served on its executive committee for 12 years. In the 1979 SGPC election, he defeated the AISSF president Amrik Singh, who was backed by

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a Sikh militant. After Operation Bluestar, he posthumously became the leading figure for the Khalistan movement, although he did not personally advocate for ...

. 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 ( ''Mājhā''; ; from "mañjhlā" )Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਮਾਝਾ , is a region located in the central parts of the historical Punjab region, presently split between the republics of Pakistan and India. It extends north from the ...

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 () is a journey undertaken by politicians or prominent citizens to interact more closely with different parts of society, educate about issues concerning them, and galvanize his or her supporters. ''Padayatras'' or foot pilgrimages ar ...

, 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 (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') 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 Januar ...

(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. He is the grandfather of Paramraj Singh Umranangal, a senior IPS Officer of the Punjab Cadre, who has been awarded the Medal for Gallantry services, twice for his fight against terrorism. He has also been awarded with the Police medal for his meritorious services to the nation.

References

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