His affiliation with Amritsar couldn’t be extra historic.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India’s former Ambassador to the US, was born right into a household credited with constructing iconic Sikh establishments and for its function in releasing up gurdwaras from British-appointed directors via actions intertwined seamlessly with India’s freedom battle.
For these acquainted with Sikh historical past, being a grandson of Teja Singh Samundri itself invokes excessive regard.
WHO WAS TEJA SINGH SAMUNDRI?
Rewind to 1882: Teja Singh, born to folks in Burj Rai Ke in what was then a Tarn Taran tehsil inside Amritsar district, got here to be often called Teja Singh Samundri after he moved to Samundri in Lyallpur district in undivided Punjab.
Teja Singh Samundri’s personal formal training ended on the major degree, however his function in founding Sikh establishments after serving within the British Indian military as a Dafadar (Junior Commissioned Officer) in 22 Cavalry for three-and-a-half years is written in golden letters.
A promoter of Sikh non secular and social reforms, particularly at a time when colonial powers had gurdwaras below the stranglehold of government-appointed non-Sikh mahants or custodians, Teja Singh Samundri returned to his village and joined the Chief Khalsa Diwan, a premier Sikh academic and social establishment established in 1902.
The younger reformer then went on to arrange two Khalsa colleges in Sarhali, then in Amritsar district.
Samundri was additionally one of many founders of a day by day newspaper, Akali.
In 1921, a British-appointed mahant controlling Sri Nankana Sahib, the gurdwara commemorating the delivery of Guru Nanak Sahib, unleashed his 400 thugs on a peaceable Akali jatha, killing at the very least 168 Sikhs.
A day after the Saka Nankana Sahib, because the bloodbath got here to be remembered, unfolded, the British authorities rushed to the location and handed over the shrine’s administration to the Akalis.
Samundri was appointed to the brand new managing committee of Sri Nankana Sahib.
His stature in Panthak (neighborhood) circles grew phenomenally for his anti-colonial resistance and Sikh institutional reforms throughout British rule.
Samundri was a founding member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the highest Sikh non secular administration which got here into being in 1920.
He rose via its ranks to turn out to be a Vice President of the SGPC.
Samundri was imprisoned for his function in an Akali Morcha aimed toward securing the keys of the treasury of Sri Darbar Sahib (the Golden Temple) from November 1921 to January 1922. The three-month peaceable Chhabian Da Morcha, because it was known as, pressured the British to give up the treasury keys.
He was arrested once more on October 13, 1923, in reference to one other Morcha spearheaded by the SGPC and the Akalis in assist of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha, who was excommunicated by the British for his defiance.
The SGPC and the Akali occasion had been declared unlawful, and 59 of their leaders had been despatched to jail, Samundri included. “They had been charged with conspiracy to wage battle in opposition to the King and had been taken to Lahore fort for trial,” writes Khushwant Singh in his e-book, A Historical past of the Sikhs.
Teja Singh Samundri died in custody on July 17, 1926, of a coronary heart assault.
The SGPC headquarters on the Sri Darbar Sahib advanced is housed in what is named the Teja Singh Samundri Corridor.
AMBASSADOR SANDHU’S PARENTS
Sandhu’s father, Prof. Bishan Singh Samundri, was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev College. The establishment was arrange in 1969 in Amritsar to mark the five hundredth delivery anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Sahib.
Prof. Bishan Singh Samundri additionally served because the Principal of Amritsar’s Khalsa Faculty.
Ambassador Sandhu’s mom, Jagjit Kaur Sandhu, served as a trainer and later Principal of the Authorities Faculty for Girls in Amritsar, after finishing her doctorate in the US.
Ambassador Sandhu’s partner, Reenat Sandhu, is a senior IFS officer, at the moment serving as Ambassador of India to the Netherlands. They’ve two youngsters.
AMBASSADOR SANDHU’S ACADEMIC JOURNEY
Ambassador Sandhu studied at The Lawrence College, Sanawar, and graduated with honours in historical past from New Delhi’s St. Stephens’ Faculty.
He earned his grasp’s diploma in worldwide relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru College within the nationwide capital.
AMBASSADOR SANDHU’S DIPLOMATIC JOURNEY
Ambassador Sandhu, a 1988-batch IFS officer, retired as India’s Ambassador to the US on February 1, 2024.
Earlier than his ambassadorial publish, he served twice within the Indian mission in Washington DC: first as Deputy Chief of Mission from July 2013 to January 2017, and earlier as First Secretary (Political) dealing with relations with the US Congress from 1997 to 2000.
Ambassador Sandhu additionally labored on the Everlasting Mission of India to the United Nations in New York from July 2005 to February 2009.
Previous to his tenure as Ambassador to the US, he held the place of Excessive Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka from January 2017 to January 2020.
Ambassador Sandhu additionally served as Consul Basic of India in Frankfurt from September 2011 to July 2013.
AMBASSADOR SANDHU’S POLITICAL DEBUT
Ambassador Sandhu’s entry into the Lok Sabha race as a BJP candidate from Amritsar makes him the third former diplomat, following Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and S. Jaishankar, to debut in politics throughout the Modi administration.
