Bhim Singh (politician)

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Bhim Singh
Chief Patron of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party
Assumed office
27 October 2012
Preceded by Office established
In office
23 March 1982 – 27 October 2012
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by Harsh Dev Singh
General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee
In office
1980-1982
President Indira Gandhi
Vice-president of the Indian Youth Congress
In office
1977-78
Member of Parliament
In office
1988
Constituency Udhampur (declared winner after a High Court ruling)
Member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
In office
1977-1987
Constituency Chenani-Ghordi (Udhampur)
Personal details
Born 17 August 1937
Bhugterian, Ramnagar, Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir, British India
Nationality Indian
Political party Indian National Congress (1966-82)
Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (1982-present)
Spouse(s) Jay Mala
Relations Dogra dynasty
Children Ankit
Alma mater Aligarh Muslim University
University of London
Religion Hinduism
Website Official website

Bhim Singh (born August 17, 1937) (Dogri: भीम सिंह) is an Indian politician, activist, lawyer and author. He is the leader of the Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), a political organisation based in India and the state of Jammu and Kashmir.[1] He founded the party in 1982 and was its chairman for 30 years until 2012 when he nominated his nephew in place.[2] He has held several key posts in the Indian Youth Congress, such as Vice-president (1977–78), General Secretary (1974–76) and President of Jammu & Kashmir State Youth Congress (1973–74) appointed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.[3][4] Before breaking away from the Congress Party to found the JKNPP in 1982, he served as a General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress Party.

He has been an elected member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly (1977–87) from Chenani-Ghordi (Udhampur). In 1988, future prime minister Vajpayee joined him on hunger strike in front of the Election Commission offices as they had rigged an election against Bhim Singh preventing him from joining the Indian Parliament.[5][6] The Jammu and Kashmir High Court ruled in favour of Bhim Singh, ruling that he had won the Lok Saba by-election from Udhampur, a seat once held by his fellow Dogra clansman Dr. Karan Singh, the former Crown prince of Jammu and Kashmir and its first President.

Bhim Singh from the village of Bhugterian near Ramnagar is a descendant of the Wazir and General Zorawar Singh[7][8] of the Royal Dogra Clan, referred to by historians as "Conqueror of Ladakh" and the "Napoleon of India" for his 19th century conquests of the Himalayan Kingdoms of Ladakh, Tibet and Baltistan.[9][10] While the Dogra Rajput dynasty is believed to be descended from the mythical Ikshvaku (Solar) dynasty that in Eastern religious scriptures has produced personalities such as Lord Rama, Gautama Buddha, and twenty-two out of the twenty-four Jain Tirthankaras.

Despite his Hindu royal and religious histories, Prof. Bhim Singh has politically and through the judiciary fought for democracy and secularism for over 55 years in Muslim majority Jammu & Kashmir,[11][12] described by President Bill Clinton as the "most dangerous place in the world."[13] In doing so Singh has spent 8 years in jail and endured militancy, Islamic extremism, terrorism and false arrests as consequence of the Jammu & Kashmir insurgencies and the ongoing Jammu & Kashmir armed conflict between India, Pakistan & China.[14][15]

He was allegedly poisoned in the Srinagar Central Jail in 1978 after speaking out against Sheikh Abdullah the first Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.[16]

In 1985, in a landmark hearing he was awarded fifty thousand rupees by the Supreme Court of India for his false imprisonment after being suspended as a Member of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.[17] The order of compensation from his case would change the tort law in India.[16][18]

While his 1996 efforts in moving the supreme court and the election commission are seen as instrumental in returning democratic elections after nine years of absence to militancy torn Jammu and Kashmir.[19][20][21]

He is locally known as "Sher (Lion)-e-Jammu."[22][23][24]

Early life and career

Already as a college student Bhim Singh was a political activist going on hunger strike as early as 1959,[25] and then was arrested in 1966 for leading thousands of students in protest as the President of the J&K Students Congress Organization.[26][27][28] During the protests of October 1966, that called for an establishment of a university in Jammu four students were killed and fifty-three injured. On October 17, 1966, Brij Mohan, Subhash Chandra and Gulshan Handa died in protests on the G.G.M. science college site in Jammu. While the senior superintendent of police shot student leader Gurcharan Singh on 18 October at a students march in Kanak Mandi, Jammu. The superintendent had aimed for Bhim Singh but M.P. Khosla, the future chief secretary of Jammu & Kashmir had intervened to save Bhim Singh's life.[29] Later Bhim Singh escaped curfew to visit and appeal to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi. Gandhi set up an inquiry into the affair under Pranab Mukherjee, the future President of India, that found several government and police officials responsible for the deaths.[30] University of Jammu was subsequently opened in 1969.

Soon after he left India to travel the world from 1967 to 1973. Mostly by the way of motorbike he managed to visit more than a 120 countries. During his travels he was recorded by the Nigerian Times in 1970 as the first person to cross the Sahara Desert on motorcycle from Tan-Tan, Morocco to Senegal through Spanish Sahara and Mauritania. In Chile he was personally received by its then President Salvador Allende, and in the Middle East he met with Yasir Arafat who later accepted Bhim Singh's invitation to India.[31][32][33] On his travels he attended the University of London earning an LL.M and later in 1972 was called to the bar at law as a specialist on Palestine and Middle East affairs.

Bhim Singh who has been a vocal supporter of Arafat for over three decades and is the Chairman of the Indo-Palestine Friendship Society would first meet a young Yasir Arafat in 1968 at a Red Cross office on the east bank of the Jordan river. In 1973 Prof. Bhim Singh would travel to Syria in support of Arafat and to join the PLO over the dispute of Golan Heights between Israel and Syria during the Yom Kippur War.[34] When in 1992 Arafat was exiled from Lebanon, Bhim Singh would once again visit him in support in Tunis and a few years later Singh would travel to Ramallah to see Arafat, where he had set up a temporary capital for Palestine.[35][36]

His book documenting the travels "Peace Mission: Around the World on Motorcycle" was published by Har Anand Publications in 2009.[37] A Hindi version for the book was released a year later by Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of Delhi. At the book release K. Padmanabhaiah former Home Sectary of India recalled Singh's contributions to reinstating the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir in the 1996 assembly elections which were held after a gap of nine years.[21] The Vice-President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari released his book "Unbelievable—Delhi to Islamabad," guest of honour Dr. Amitabh Mattoo at the book launch compared Bhim Singh to Che Guevara commenting on his efforts to fully integrate Jammu & Kashmir into India.[38] Prof. Bhim Singh has worked for several decades lobbying for an amendment to Article 370 to integrate Jammu and Kashmir in to India.[39][40]

Career

Prof. Bhim Singh in 1973 was appointed as President of the Youth Congress in Jammu & Kashmir by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,[41][42] he then went on to become the General Secretary of the Indian Youth Congress.[4][43] He would later leave the Congress Party due to political and economic differences to found his own political party, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panther's Party (JKNPP) on March 23, 1982 along with a few other prominent political personalities including Jay Mala the former President of the Indian Students Congress.[43][19] He was twice elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Bhim Singh has also been a member of National Integration Council, first in 1991 nominated by Prime Minister of India Narasimha Rao, and then again in 2008 nominated by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.[44][45] He has contested seven times in the Indian parliamentary elections including against the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi, and former Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani in New Delhi.[15]

As an advocate he has won many landmark cases in the Supreme Court of India and has been jailed several times while leading movements for students and youth demands including opening a university in Jammu. He has been jailed 54 times, spending an aggregate 8 years in detention, out of which 18 times he was released by order of the Supreme Court.[15]

Bhim Singh v. State of Jammu and Kashmir, 1985

On August 17, 1985 Prof. Bhim Singh was suspended from the opening of the budget session of the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly. After he would subsequently challenge his suspension in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court he was arrested. His wife then moved the court to prove his detention was illegal,[17] and in a landmark hearing the Supreme Court ruled in Bhim Singh's favour awarding him compensation of fifty thousands rupees for his illegal detention and false imprisonment by the police.[46][47]

Jammu and Kashmir state assembly 2002-2008

In the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections in 2002, the party which he heads, the Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party, won four seats in the state government, enabling them to be part of the ruling coalition,[48] with Bhim Singh's nephew Harsh Dev Singh serving as Education Minister.[2] In 2007 he withdrew support to the Congress Party lead coalition, citing differences with the Peoples Democratic Party another member of the coalition.[49] The state government fell soon after when the PDP itself withdrew their support from the Congress Party during the Amarnath land transfer controversy, placing the state under direct rule of the central government for a few month prior to the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections, 2008.[50]

Human rights lawyer

As a human rights activist and lawyer in the Supreme Court of India he has aided thousands of helpless prisoners, farmers, employees, and youth all over the country. Through writs he had filed through his political party and the State Legal Aid Committee which he heads, he has secured the release of 300 Pakistani, Pakistan administered Kashmir and Afghan prisoners from Indian jails, some of whom had been held for decades.[51] Bhim Singh has also served as the Chairman of the executive Committee of Legal aid with Chief Justice Bhagwati who described him as, "as crusader for truth and justice."[52]

Dogra Ratan Awards

He is the Convenor of the Council for Promotion of Dogri Language, Culture and History a body which awards the Dogra Ratan awards. In 2011 the President of India Pratibha Patil, presented the awards at the General Zorawar Singh Auditorium.[53][54]

Controversies

UN Volcker Report

In 2005 he was called ‘Vishwa Ratna,’ as possibly the only person in the world who could refuse 7.3 million barrels of oil vouchers as illustrated in Table 3 of Vol.II in the report of the UN Committee dealing with Oil-for-food program headed by Paul Volcker during sanctions placed on Iraq.[55][56][57] In essence saying no to 146 million dollars worth of oil vouchers which could have earned him about 9 million dollars in commission.[citation needed] Neither was he served notice to appear in front of the United Nations investigation on the matter.[58] Later Bhim Singh was also named by the Iraqi President to plead his case in the Trial of Saddam Hussein however the United States would block him from traveling to Baghdad.[15] In 2006 at a UNI press conference he had stated that, "a dead Saddam can be more dangerous than a living Saddam for the US and UK... the execution may take a moment. But its consequences will be dangerous and long-term."[59]

Eviction notice from VP House

Prof. Bhim Singh was given guest accommodations at VP House in New Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir in 1991 for security reasons by Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar due to the threat posed to his life by terrorist groups in the Jammu & Kashmir Insurgency.[60] In 2015, he was first asked to vacate his accommodation at VP House by the Urban Development Ministry and then given an 8-week eviction notice by the Supreme Court, questioning how he could have stayed as a guest for "30 years" at VP House which is usually meant for visitors of members of parliament.[61] The television channel NewsX reported the story as an abuse of political power for luxury accommodation.[62] Bhim Singh and his Panthers Party however protested the eviction at Jantar Mantar, stating that the accommodations were just a one room-suite used as offices to receive and assist Kashmiris with grievances. Bhim Singh believed that the eviction actions were politically motivated due his Party's opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-PDP collation government in Jammu & Kashmir levying tax on Hindu pilgrims traveling to Vaishno Devi and civil-rights cases that he had pending in the Supreme Court on behalf of Pakistani refugees against the government.[14][60][63] Earlier Bhim Singh and his Panther's Party had also protested the cut down of his 22 personnel Z security cover by the BJP-PDP government as an act of political discrimination.[64][65]

Books

Notes

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  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Kunwar Bhim Singh vs State Of Jammu And Kashmir And Anr. (JKHC May 12, 1966) (“The liberty of a subject is the most precious achievement of a democracy and depriving a person of his free movements should sparingly be re-sorted to.”). Text
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  50. ↑ Amarnath row divides Jammu and Kashmir NDTV, 16 August 2008
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  52. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  53. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  54. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  55. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  56. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  59. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  62. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  63. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  64. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  65. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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