Partap Singh Kairon (1 October 1901 – 6 February 1965) was the 3rd Chief Minister of the

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 ...

province (then comprising Punjab,

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

and part of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

), and is widely acknowledged as the architect of post-Independence Punjab Province (or Punjab, Haryana and Himachal as of today). Moreover, he was an

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

leader. He was jailed twice by the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, once for five years for organizing protests against British rule. His political influence and views are still considered to dominate politics in Punjab.

Early life

Partap Singh Kairon was born on 1 October 1901, into a Dhillon Jat Sikh family. His last name was taken from the village of Kairon in the

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

district, of Tehsil Tarn Taran in province of

during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

era. His grandfather was Sardar Gulab Singh Dhillon. His father, Nihal Singh Kairon (1863-1927), was a pioneer in initiating women's education in the province. Partap studied at Col. Brown Cambridge School in Dehra Dun and Khalsa College, Amritsar and then went to the United States for further studies. During his time in USA, he supported himself by working on farms and in factories. He received his Master's degree in political science from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He also received his Master's degree in Economics from

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

before going to Michigan. He was impressed by farming methods practised in the U.S.A and hoped to replicate the same in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

later.

Family

Partap Singh Kairon had 3 children, including Surinder Singh Kairon, Gurinder Singh Kairon and Sar Brinder Kaur respectively. While the younger Gurinder remained Congressman like his father, Surinder later joined Shiromani Akali Dal. Surinder's son Adesh Partap Singh Kairon is married to the daughter of Prakash Singh Badal, Preneet Kaur and has been a minister in the

government (Shiromani Akali Dal).

Political career

Entry into politics

Kairon returned to India in 1929. On 13 April 1932 he started an

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

weekly paper called ''The New Era'' in Amritsar. He joined politics and the newspaper was eventually shut down. He was first a member of the Shiromani Akali Dal, and later of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. He was jailed in 1932 for five years for participating in

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

. He entered the Punjab Legislative Assembly as an Akali nominee in 1937, defeating the Congress candidate, Baba Gurdit Singh of Sarhali. From 1941 to 1946, he was the General Secretary of the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee. He was jailed again in the 1942 Quit India Movement and was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946.

In power

After Independence in 1947, Partap Singh Kairon held various offices in the elected state government including Rehabilitation Minister, Development Minister (1947–1949) and Chief Minister (21 January 1956 to 23 June 1964).

Minister for Rehabilitation

As Minister for Rehabilitation in the days immediately after

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, Kairon handled the task of resettlement of millions of refugees who had migrated from West Punjab (Pakistan). Over three million migrated people were resettled in East Punjab (India) by allotment of dwellings, employments and land distribution, in a very short period of time.

Assassination

In 1964, following the publication of the report of the commission of inquiry which had exonerated him of the bulk of the allegations made against him by his political adversaries, Partap Singh Kairon resigned from his position as chief minister of the Punjab. On 6 February 1965, he was on his way from Delhi to Chandigarh when he was waylaid near Rasoi village, Sonipat district, and shot dead along with his personal assistant — an IAS officer, and the driver. The three were murdered by Sucha Bassi, Baldev Singh and Nahar Singh 'Fauji'. Sucha had planned the killing of Kairon in revenge, because he believed that Kairon had taken a personal interest in securing the conviction of one Ajit Singh and his father Bir Singh in a murder case. Sucha Bassi, Baldev Singh and Nahar Singh 'Fauji' — were convicted and hanged in 1970, while the fourth accused, Daya Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment and released in 1994.

References

External links

Partap Singh Kairon materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kairon, Partap Singh 1901 births 1965 deaths Punjabi Sikhs Indian murder victims Indian independence activists from Punjab Province (British India) Politicians from Amritsar Chief ministers of Punjab, India People murdered in Punjab, India Politicians from Amritsar district Punjab, India MLAs 1957–1962 Punjab, India MLAs 1962–1967 University of Michigan alumni Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Shiromani Akali Dal politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India Prisoners and detainees of British India Politicians assassinated in 1965 Indian politicians assassinated in the 20th century Deaths by firearm in India