Shai0778 at 13:31, 5 March 2026

2026-03-05T13:31:08Z

2405:201:6007:4B54:80D8:1884:E9E:3F65: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-12-19T06:25:01Z

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->JJMC89 bot III: Merging :Category:Politicians killed in accidents in India to :Category:Accidental deaths in India per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 November 5#Category:Politicians killed in accidents in India

2021-12-11T18:48:27Z

Merging Category:Politicians killed in accidents in India to Category:Accidental deaths in India per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 November 5#Category:Politicians killed in accidents in India

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{{short description|7th President of the Republic of India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Zail Singh
| image = President of India Giani Zail Singh (cropped).jpg
| caption =
| office = 7th [[President of India]]
| primeminister = [[Indira Gandhi]]<br/>[[Rajiv Gandhi]]
| vicepresident = [[Mohammad Hidayatullah]]<br/>R. Venkataraman
| term_start = 25 July 1982
| term_end = 25 July 1987
| predecessor = [[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]]
| successor = [[Ramaswamy Venkataraman|R. Venkataraman]]
| office2 = [[Minister of Home Affairs (India)|Minister of Home Affairs]]
| primeminister2 = [[Indira Gandhi]]
| term_start2 = 14 January 1980
| term_end2 = 22 June 1982
| predecessor2 = [[Yashwantrao Chavan]]
| successor2 = [[Ramaswamy Venkataraman|R. Venkataraman]]
| office3 = [[Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)|9th Chief Minister of Punjab]]
| governor3 = [[D. C. Pavate]]<br/>[[Mahendra Mohan Choudhry]]
| term_start3 = 17 March 1972
| term_end3 = 30 April 1977
| predecessor3 = [[President's rule]]
| successor3 = President's rule
| office4 = [[Non-Aligned Movement|Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement]]
| term_start4 = 1983
| term_end4 = 1986
| birth_name = Jarnail Singh
| native_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1916|5|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Sandhwan]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br/> (now in [[Punjab, India]])
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|12|25|1916|5|5|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Chandigarh]], [[India]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| alma_mater = Shaheed Sikh Missionary College
| spouse = Pardhan Kaur (1919–2002)<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|first=Sanjoy |last=Hazarika|title=Zail Singh, 78, First Sikh To Hold India's Presidency |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/26/obituaries/zail-singh-78-first-sikh-to-hold-india-s-presidency.html |work=[[New York Times]] |date=26 December 1994 |access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref>
| children = 1 son, 3 daughters<ref name=nytimes/>
| nationality = [[India]]n
}}
'''[[Giani]] Zail Singh''' ({{audio|Zail_singh.ogg|pronunciation}}, born '''Jarnail Singh'''; 5 May 1916 – 25 December 1994<ref name="Obituary: Zail Singh">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-zail-singh-1388722.html|title=Obituary: Zail Singh|work=The Independent|date=29 December 1994|access-date=22 June 2018}}</ref>) was the seventh and the first [[Sikh]] [[president of India]] serving from 1982 to 1987. Prior to his presidency, he was a politician with the [[Indian National Congress]] party, and had held several ministerial posts in the [[Union Cabinet]], including that of [[Home Minister]]. He also served as the Chairman of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] from 1983 to 1986.

His presidency was marked by [[Operation Blue Star]], the [[assassination of Indira Gandhi]], and the [[1984 anti-Sikh riots]].<ref name=nyt>"{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/26/obituaries/zail-singh-78-first-sikh-to-hold-india-s-presidency.html|title=Zail Singh, 78, First Sikh To Hold India's Presidency|work=The New York Times|date=26 December 1994|access-date=26 October 2011}}</ref> He died of injuries in 1994, after a car accident.

==Early life==
He was born in [[Sandhwan]], [[Faridkot district]] on 5 May 1916 to Kishan Singh and Mata Hind Kaur, a Tarkhan couple of a small village, Sandhvan, near Kot Kapura, in the princely state of Faridkot. Kishan Singh was the village carpenter. Additionally, he had his own small acreage to till. He was a devout Sikh and was known in the countryside for his simple and upright manner. Zail Singh was named Jarnail, meaning “General”, but as a young man, he changed his first name to Zail after being imprisoned several times for opposing the rule of the maharajah of [[Faridkot State|Faridkot]].<ref name="Obituary: Zail Singh"/> He was a [[Sikh]] by religion, was given the title of ''Giani'', as he was educated and learned about [[Guru Granth Sahib]] at Shaheed Sikh Missionary College in [[Amritsar]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545853/Zail-Singh "Zail Singh"]. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</ref>

==State politics (1947–1972)==
In 1947, with the [[States Dancing Legacy|reorganisation of India]] along secular lines, he opposed Harindar Singh Brar, ruler of [[Faridkot State]] and was incarcerated and tortured for five years.<ref>A.C. Aurora, "Punjab Riyasti [[Praja Mandal]]", The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, ed. Harbans Singh, Vol. III, Patiala, India, Punjabi University, 1997, p. 278.</ref> He was called on to be the Revenue Minister of the recently formed [[Patiala and East Punjab States Union]], under [[Chief Minister]] [[Gian Singh Rarewala]] in 1949 and later became Minister of Agriculture in 1951. From 3 April 1956 to 10 March 1962, he was a member of the [[Rajya Sabha]].<ref>[https://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/s.pdf Rajya Sabha member]</ref>

==Chief Minister of Punjab (1972–77)==
Zail Singh was elected as a [[Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee|Congress]] [[List of Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)|Chief Minister of Punjab]] in 1972.<ref>Sangat Singh, The Sikhs in History, New Delhi, Uncommon Books, 1999, pp. 350–54; [[Khushwant Singh]], A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, pp. 315–17.</ref> He arranged massive religious gatherings, started public functions with a traditional Sikh prayer, inaugurated a [[Guru Gobind Singh Marg|highway]] named after [[Guru Gobind Singh]], and named a [[Fatehgarh Sahib|township]] after the Guru's son.<ref>Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 355.</ref> He created a lifelong pension scheme for the [[Indian independence movement|freedom fighters]] of the state. He repatriated the remains of [[Udham Singh]] from [[London]], armaments and articles belonging to Guru Gobind Singh.

==Central government==
In [[1980 Indian general election|1980]], Zail Singh was elected to the [[7th Lok Sabha]], and appointed to join Indira Gandhi's cabinet as [[Minister of Home Affairs (India)|Minister of Home Affairs]].<ref name=nyt/>

==President of India==
[[File:Zail Singh President of India with Bhim Singh.jpg|thumb|266x266px|Zail Singh, President of India with [[Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party|Panthers Party]] founder [[Bhim Singh (politician)|Bhim Singh]], at the [[Rashtrapati Bhavan|Presidential Palace]] in New Delhi in the 1980s.]]
In 1982, he was unanimously nominated to serve as the President. Nonetheless, some in the media felt that the President had been chosen for being an Indira loyalist rather than an eminent person. "If my leader had said I should pick up a broom and be a sweeper, I would have done that. She chose me to be President," Singh was quoted to have said after his election.<ref>{{cite web |title=10 stories that changed in our lifetime |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/nation/story/20081229-10-stories-that-changed-in-our-lifetime-738583-2008-12-19 |publisher=India Today |date=December 2008}}</ref> He took the oath of office on 25 July 1982. He was the first Sikh to hold the office.

He served beside Gandhi and protocol dictated that he should be briefed every week by her on the affairs of the state. On 31 May 1984, day before Operation Blue Star, he met with Gandhi for more than an hour, but she omitted even sharing a word about her plan.<ref>Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Volume II: 1839–2004, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 359-60.</ref> Following the operation he was pressured to resign from his post by Sikhs. He decided against resignation fearing to aggravate the situation on advice from [[Harbhajan Singh Yogi|Yogi Bhajan]]. He was subsequently called before the [[Akal Takhat]] to apologise and explain his inaction at the desecration of the [[Harimandir Sahib]] and killing of innocent Sikhs. [[Indira Gandhi]] was assassinated on 31 October in the same year, and he appointed her elder son [[Rajiv Gandhi]] as Prime Minister.<ref>Harjot Singh, "Zail Singh, Giani", The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, ed. Harbans Singh, Vol. IV, Patiala, India, Punjabi University, 1997, pp. 456–57.</ref>

Also, in 1986 he exercised the [[Pocket veto]] with respect to the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, passed by [[Rajiv Gandhi]], imposing restrictions on the freedom of press and hence, was widely criticised.

==Awards==
Zail Singh was awarded the [[Order of St. Thomas (award)|Order of St. Thomas]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://notknowingyourhistoryisnotknowingyourself.wordpress.com/2018/09/16/order-of-st-thomas/|title=Order Of St. Thomas|website=www.notknowingyourhistoryisnotknowingyourself.wordpress.com}}</ref> (the highest honorary award conferred by the [[Indian Orthodox Church]]) by Catholicos of the East [[Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I|Baselios MarThoma Mathews I]] during the Catholicate [[Platinum jubilee]] celebratory meeting held at [[Kottayam]] [[Nehru Stadium, Kottayam|Nehru Stadium]] on 12 September 1982.

==Letter issue==

Singh used a [[pocket veto]] to refuse assent to the "Post Office (Amendment) Bill" in 1986 to show his opposition to the bill. The bill was later withdrawn by the [[V. P. Singh]] [[9th Lok Sabha|Government]] in 1990.<ref name="Show Of Dissent">{{cite news|title=Show Of Dissent|url=http://archives.digitaltoday.in/indiatoday/20060612/nation5.html|access-date=13 June 2012|newspaper=India Today|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326055411/http://archives.digitaltoday.in/indiatoday/20060612/nation5.html|archive-date=26 March 2013}}</ref>

==Death and legacy ==
[[File:The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the 100th Birthday Celebrations of the former President of India, late Shri Giani Zail Singh, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on May 05, 2016.jpg|thumb|100th Birthday celebration of Zail Singh, led by then President of India [[Pranab Mukherjee|Mukherjee]] at the [[Presidential Palace, Delhi|Presidential Palace]] in New Delhi. 2016]]
On 29 November 1994, Zail Singh suffered multiple injuries following a motor accident near [[Kiratpur Sahib]] in [[Ropar district]] when a truck driving down the wrong side of the road hit the car he was travelling in.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thehindu.com/2000/12/07/stories/0207000n.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203070243/http://www.thehindu.com/2000/12/07/stories/0207000n.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=3 December 2014 | title=Zail Singh's death: RI for truck driver | date=7 December 2000 | work=[[The Hindu]] | access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020512/main4.htm | title=Giani Zail Singh's widow dead | work=The Tribune | date=12 May 2002 | access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref> Singh died in PGI, [[Chandigarh]] where he had been undergoing treatment on [[Christmas Day]] in 1994, aged 78.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/12/26/zail-singh-dies-after-crash/6c59e7d6-1cb1-481a-a1bd-d3491380cb44/ | title=Zail Singh dies after crash | work=The Washington Post | date=26 December 1994 | access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="Zail Singh dies after car crash">{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/zail-singh-dies-after-car-crash-1388541.html | title=Zail Singh dies after car crash | work=Independent | date=26 December 1994 | access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref> The Government of India announced seven days of official mourning following his death.<ref name="Zail Singh dies after car crash"/> He was cremated at the [[Raj Ghat and associated memorials|Raj Ghat Memorial]] in Delhi.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/giani-zails-singh-98th-birthday-some-facts/1/433813.html | title=Giani Zail Singh: 13 facts you should know about the only Sikh President of India | work=India Today | date=5 May 2015 | access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Stamp of India - 1995 - Colnect 163737 - Giani Zail Singh former President - Commemoration.jpeg|thumb|Zail Singh on 100 paise Indian stamp issued in 1995.]]
A commemorative postage stamp was issued by India's [[India Posts|Department of Posts]] on the occasion of Singh's first death anniversary in 1995.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.indianpostagestamps.com/topical/presidents_2.html | title=Presidents of India on Indian Stamps | access-date=19 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.indianphilatelics.com/stamps/commemorative-stamps/1992-1995/item/11166-1st-death-anniversary-of-giani-zail-singh-click-for-stamp-information.html | title=1st Death Anniversary of Giani Zail Singh | publisher=Indian Philately | access-date=19 September 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Giani Zail Singh College Of Engineering & Technology]]
*[[Gyani]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* [http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/personalities/zail.html Biography of Giani Zail Singh]

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Yashwantrao Chavan]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister of Home Affairs (India)|Minister of Home Affairs]]|years=1980–1982}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Ramaswamy Venkataraman|R. Venkataraman]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Neelam Sanjiva Reddy]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[President of India]]|years=1982–1987}}
|-
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Secretary General of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]]|years=1983–1986}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ramaswamy Venkataraman|R. Venkataraman]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of India}}
{{Home Ministry (India)}}
{{NAMSecretary-General}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Zail}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Chief Ministers of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists]]
[[Category:Indian Sikhs]]
[[Category:Ministers of Internal Affairs of India]]
[[Category:Presidents of India]]
[[Category:Insurgency in Punjab]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in India]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:7th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Secretaries-General of the Non-Aligned Movement]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in India]]
[[Category:State funerals in India]]

Zail Singh - Revision history

Shai0778 at 13:31, 5 March 2026

2405:201:6007:4B54:80D8:1884:E9E:3F65: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

->JJMC89 bot III: Merging :Category:Politicians killed in accidents in India to :Category:Accidental deaths in India per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 November 5#Category:Politicians killed in accidents in India