Former SGPC Chief Secretary Harcharan Singh Passes Away

CHANDIGARH, Punjab—The former SGPC chief secretary Harcharan Singh today passed away due to cardiac arrest in the morning hours. It is learned that the intensity of the heart attack was mild, however, the former SGPC chief secretary did not survive the attack.

Harcharan Singh was 75 years old and is survived by his wife Dalwinder Kaur and daughter Nimrata Kaur.

In August 2015, he had come into the limelight on due to his appointment as a chief secretary of the apex Sikh body at a hefty monthly salary of INR 3,00,000. Although he attempted to pacify the Sikh ire against him by voluntarily reducing his salary, he still remained at the target of Sikh leaders due to his alleged affiliation with the pro-Hindutva RSS.

He also remained at the target as the unasked pardon to rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim had come shortly after his joining as a chief secretary of SGPC.

While working as a chief secretary in SGPC for two years, he developed differences with the other SGPC officials like Dr. Roop Singh due to which he had to quit on July 29, 2017.

At that time, Dr. Roop Singh had taken leave while indirectly indicating that he was not going to join his duties in the presence of Harcharan Singh. Later, Dr. Roop Singh replaced him as a chief secretary.

In February this year, Harcharan Singh had tried to end controversies around him by penning a book titled “Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee di Vartmaan Sthiti”. In his book, he made serious revelations about SGPC’s working.

At the end, the SGPC got a chance to express its grudge towards him by holding him responsible for the missing 328 saroops of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

On August 24, the SGPC executive announced to initiate criminal proceedings against him.

Ever since he assumed the office, he remained an eyesore for many, both inside and outside the SGPC, apparently due to his inability to handle the “religio-political” affairs in a diplomatic manner.

In 2016, he was summoned at Akal Takht for not performing mourning prayers for the loss of saroops in an accidental fire in May 2016 at Guru Granth Sahib Bhawan in Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib.

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