Hoshiarpur, April 4
Khalistan ideologue Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan died at his residence at Tanda, 32 km from here, today following a massive heart attack. He was 80. He is survived by his wife, Charanjit Kaur.
According to Jorawar Singh Chohan, a close relative of the deceased, Dr Chohan had been looking after his clinic at Tanda and his ancestral house at his native village Nangal Khunga.
His wife Charanjit Kaur, who is with her nephew Rupinder Singh in the UK, has been informed. The cremation will take place on her return. The body of Dr Chohan has been kept in a private mortuary at Jaja village, adjoining Tanda town.
Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan, a qualified MBBS doctor, was running a private indoor clinic before entering politics.
He was first elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from Tanda as a candidate of the Republican Party of India in 1967. He later became Deputy Speaker when the Akali Dal-led coalition government assumed office in the state. Later, when
Lachman Singh Gill became Chief Minister, Dr Chohan was made Finance Minister. He is credited with introducing state lotteries during his brief tenure as Finance Minister.
In 1969, he lost the Assembly election and two years later moved to the UK. He returned in 1977 and at a public rally in Tanda, raised the demand for "Khalistan". Before he flew back to England in 1980, he had generated much heat by demanding "Khalistan".
Since then, he had been in England. There was a case against him for trying to set up a transmitter in the Golden Temple complex. In England, he spearheaded the Khalistani propaganda after becoming chairman of the Council of Khalistan.
"There were cases of sedition against him. These were registered when he pronounced Khalistan, issued its currency and passports and regularly published literature and brochures in support of his kingdom in exile. But in all these cases, he had been either acquitted or the cases had been closed as untraced," sources in the police department said. They said there was no case of violence, murder, attempt to murder, sabotage, rioting or bombing against him ever.
On June 26, 2001, he again returned to India and delivered inflammatory speeches at Amritsar with other like-minded SAD leaders. Cases of waging war against India, sedition, and making false statements had been registered and he was arrested by the Kotwali police station, Amritsar. In a similar case, he was also arrested by the Tanda police on June 14, 2005, but was later released on bail.
He also formed the Khalsa Raj Party to enter the political arena once again.
Harcharanjit Singh Dhami, a senior leader of the Dal Khalsa, while paying rich tributes to Dr Jagjit Singh Chohan said the Sikh Panth had lost a great visionary who had shown the right path to the Sikh masses.
