Sadhu Singh Bhaura

Jathedar Sadhu Singh Bhaura (1905-1984) was a Sikh missionary who rose to be the Jathedar (leader) of Sri Akal Takhat, Amritsar, was the son of Bhai Ran Singh and Mai Atam Kaur, born on 6 June 1905 at Chakk No. 7, a village in Lyallpur district (now in Pakistan).

After graduating from Khalsa High School, Lyallpur (where Master Tara Singh, later a leading figure in Sikh politics, was the headmaster), he joined police service and served at Quetta from 1923 to 1925 before resigning to take part in the Akali agitation for Gurdwara reform.

From 1926 to 1928, he studied at the Shahid Sikh Missionary College, Amritsar. From 1928 to 1964, he headed the Sikh preaching centers at Aligarh and Hapur, in Uttar Pradesh, where he is said to have initiated nearly half a million Sikhs, they were mostly Vanjaras of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. He was a member of the executive committee of the Shiromam Akali Dal from 1955 to 1960 and took part in several of the political agitations launched by the party.

He was Jathedar of Takhat Sri Kesgarh, Anandpur Sahib, from 1961 to 1964. In 1964, he was appointed as the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takhat, the highest seat of religious authority and legislation for the Sikhs.

He attracted wide public notice when, on 10 June 1978, he issued a Hukamnama (an edict) calling upon all Sikhs to boycott socially the 'neo-Nirankari' sect.

In 1980, Jathedar Sadhu Singh Bhaura, in an effort to avert a split in the Akali Dal, formed a 7 member committee of senior party leaders to function as collegiate executivse, but soon after that he resigned citing his health and retired to live with his sons in Jalandhar where he died on 7 March 1984.

1. Dilgeer, Harjinder Singh, The Akal Takhat. Jalandhar, 1980