bhaijasbirjeeveni

8/14/2019 bhaijasbirjeeveni

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Bhai Sahib,Bhai Jasbir Singh Ji Khalsapopularly known as Veerjiwas

born in the early morning onAugust 16th 1944 at hismothers village of Chakri(presently in Tehsil and DistrictRawalpindi, in Pakistan). Hisfather, Sardar Inder Singh, wasa businessman in the Village

Billol (now In Pakistan ). Hismothers name was Jagjit Kauralso known as Parbati Kaur.Veerji has only one sibling : asister, Pritam Kaur who is eightyears older to him and who lives with her family in Khanna,Punjab.

Before Veerji was born, Veerjismother made it a practise tocomplete one Sehaj Path dabhogevery month. When he wasforty days old, Veerjis parentstook him to Gurdwara Panja

Sahib (in Pakistan) to receive

the blessing of Guru Nanak DevJi.

Veerjis parents

He was less than three years ofage when the partition of India

and Pakistan took place in1947. Like everyone else, hisfamily went through a great dealof ordeal during the partition. They initially spent some timeduring that period in the care ofSant Mansa Singh at the village

of Hardawal in Pakistan. Afterthat, they found their way toAmritsar with the assistance ofthe military.

After they got to India, Veerjismother maternal uncle, (mama

ji), Gurmukh Singh Musafir1,

managed to arrange for a job forVeerjis father as a Custodian inSangrur. The whole family thenmoved to Sangrur.

At the age of five, he wasenrolled in a school in Sangrur.

Veerji studied here till hefinished his Matric(Grade 10).

Gurmukh Singh Musafir

1Anactivepoliticianthroughouthislife,Giani

GurmukhSinghMusafiralsowonrenownasa

poetandwriter.Hewasamultidimensional

personality.Heistheonlyleaderwhohadbeen

aJathedar

of

Sri

Akal

Takht,

General

Secretary

oftheSGPC,PresidentofthePunjabPradesh

CongressCommittee,amemberofthe

CongressWorkingCommittee,ChiefMinister

ofPunjabandamemberofParliament.Hewas

posthumouslydecoratedwilhPadma

Vibhushan,thesecondhighestnationalaward

ofIndia.diedinDelhion18January1976.

MMMaaahhhaaaaaannn SSSiiikkkhhh SSSaaakkkhhhssshhhiiieeeaaattt


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When he was fourteen, Veerjisfather passed away. As a resultof this, the familysresponsibilities fell on hisshoulders and he moved toLudhiana. In Ludhiana, Veerji worked extremely hard to

support the family and amongstother things, he completed afour years course as anOverseear at the RamgariahCollege in Ludhiana.

Right from childhood, Veerji hadan inclination towards

spirituality. He developed apassion for poetry. He used toread poetry with such vigour,fervour and passion that hesoon came to be known asJoshi Ji (meaning thefervent one). Veerji was a giftedpoet. Before he began thepractise of singing Gurbani inkirtan style, Veerji made hismark as a poet when he used torecite poetry at Sikh Gurdwarasduring Gurpurabs and on otherimportant occasions.

Veerji grew up in an extremelyreligious and spiritualatmosphere. Both his parentswere highly religious: his fatherInder Singh was able to singshabad kirtan; he was aaccomplished paathi (able to

recite the Sri Guru GranthSahib fluently) and was very well versed in other religioustexts including the SurajParkash.

Sant Nehchal Singh

Veerji received his blessing todeliver sermons (katha) from

Sant Nehchal Singh of YamunaNagar. This happened quitespontaneously when on oneoccasion, Veerji had gone tomeet Sant Nirmal Singh withsome friends of his. After all hisother friends had left thecompany of Sant Nirmal Singh,Veerji remained seated. Whenasked by Sant Ji as to why hehad not left, Veerji said that he

had stayed back as he had not

received anything from Sant Ji.

Sant Ji then asked him what was it that he wanted. Veerjiresponded by saying that youcan give me whatever youplease. Sant Ji then patted him

heavily on his back a couple oftimes and asked him whetherhe had a feeling of havingreceived something. Veerjiresponded in the negative. SantJi then gave him one really hardpat (thapda)and told him fromnow on, your mission is to go

and serve the sangat by doingkatha of Sri Guru GranthSahib.

Veerji did katha for a period oftwelve years from then on.

Sant Naranjan Singh

Sometime in January of 1981,Veerji went to seek the darshanofSaint Scholar Sant Naranjan


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Singh2 of Patiala. Veerji had

met Sant Ji on previousoccasions but it was after 1981that they became close andVeerji used to go regularly toPatiala to meet Sant Ji.

Although Veerji used to sing

shabad kirtan without the useof any musical instruments evenbefore meeting Sant Ji, it was inGuru Nanak Ashram in Patialathat he received his blessingfrom Sant Ji to do kirtan withthe use of the harmonium.

2Sant Ji was born around the year 1921 in

Sulisar, Bathinda, Punjab. He was blessed bySant Attar Singh Ji (Mastuana Sahib). Sant Jileft his physical body on 25th May 1994

Sant Naranjan Singh Ji

During one of his meetings withVeerji, Sant Ji told Veerji thathe would require him to go toManimajare in two days toperform the kirtan seva in placeof Sant Ji.

Without any hesitation, Veerjiimmediately in all humilityagreed to undertake the seva.However, upon reflection herealised that he would not beable to perform the kirtan sevaand he informed Sant Ji that as

he had never sung any shabadsand that as did not know how todo kirtan with the waja. Hebeseeched Sant Ji that he wouldonly be able to carry out thisseva with his (Sant Jis)blessings.

Sant Ji responded that therewas no human being who wouldbe able to teach him kirtan within such a short period oftime and that he should takehis (Sant Jis) harmonium to SriGuru Granth Sahib Ji as it was

only Guru Ji who would be able

to teach him.

Veerji complied and brought theharmonium to the SachkhandAsthaanwhere Sri Guru GranthSahibs sukhasan was done atthe Guru Nanak Ashram at

Patiala. It was here that Guru Jiblessed Veerji with the melody,comprising of just a few notes.Veerji was estatic when hereceived this blessing from Guru Ji and shouted uncontrollably,Aya Gya. Ay Gya(I got it, I gotit)

It was melody that Veerji usedsuccessfully for man years and which totally captivated thesangat for years to come. Veerjiused this tune for his Simranand kirtan parchaar for manyyears all over the country duringhis kirtan and simran sessions.

He then began to do nishkaam(free, without monetary gain)kirtan in a small group of Sikhs.Given the melodious and soulful


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nature of his singing, the circle

quickly grew by leaps andbounds.

It grew so rapidly that within just a few years, sometime in1984, Veerji purchased a smallhall in Sohana which he used

for his kirtan and simransangat.

Veerji made it a practise toconcentrate on only one topicduring each of his kirtan andkatha sessions.

Guru Nanak Ashram, Patiala

Move to Khanna, marriage

For economic as well as familyreasons, Veerji later moved from

Ludhiana to Khanna, where his

elder sister, Pritam Kaur wasliving with her family. His sisteris married to Swinder SinghKohli. In Khanna, he started hisown business known as JoshiTent House along GT Road inKhanna, Punjab. His partner

Meva Singh Gill used to trim hisbeard but when he came toknow about veerji, he becameamritdhari although Veerji hadnever told to stop trimming hisbeard.

Veerji transferred all his interest

in the business to Meva SinghGill without any cost many years ago. Mr. Meva Singh Gillis still running this business inKhanna.

Once Veerji gave saropa to a

man who used to trim his beardand some people objected tothis. Soon after, that personbecame an amritdhari Sikh.

Veerjis Family:

Veerji got married on April 13th

1967 to Daljit Kaur, who is thedaughter of Avtar Singh ofKalanor. They got married atNaarnul, Mahindgarh, Haryana.

Veerjis wife


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Daljit Kaur is a well educatedperson. In addition tosuccessfully undertaking andfulfilling her responsibilities as awife and a mother, she has alsobeen a successful educator. Sheused to be a teacher and then

rose to be become a VicePrincipal in a governmentschool. She now lives with hereldest son in Mohali and is awriter.

Veerji had two sons: JagmohanSingh (known lovingly as

Happy) who was born on July25th 1971 at Patiala and

Jatinder Mohan Singh (knownlovingly as Vicky) who wasborn on February 2nd 1973 atKhanna.

Jagmohan and Jatinder Mohan

The elder son, Jagmohan ismarried to Harmeet Kaur. Theygot married on 6th March 1993at Jalandhar. Jagmohan lives inMohali where he runs a medicalpharmacy known as VeerjiMedicos. Veerji used to live

with him.

Jagmohan Singh has twodaughters, Jagseerat Kaur bornon 13th June 1994 andHarnaindeep Kaur, born on 28thApril 2001. They are students inChandigarh. Jagseerat Kaur has

a good voice and is also gettingtraining in kirtan and theharmonium

Jatinder Mohan Singh ismarried to Chanjot Kaur. Theygot married on 24th Dec 1995 atJalandhar.

Jatinder Mohan Singh has twochildren: a son and a daughter. Their son, Sanjampreet Singhwas born on 24th January 1997and is studying at the Guru

Nanak Public School in

Ludhiana. He is also receivingtraining kirtan and harmoniumfrom Bhai Sukhwant Singh ofJawadi Taksal.

Sanjampreet Singh accompaniedVeerji on the stage at several

kirtan programs during hislifetime. At his last samagams inLudhiana at GurduwaraDukhniwaran Sahib, Sanjampreetdid Kirtan with Veerji. Thecassette Jan Paropkari Aayehas a recording of a shabad SoiSoi Deveby Sanjampreet.

Sanjampreet Singh at Veerjis bhogat Sohana

JatinderMohans daughterHarnoor Kaur was born on 17th


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Dec 2002. She is studying in a

convent school in Ludhiana.

JatinderMohan Singh lives inLudhiana where he has agarment showroom retailinggents garments known asKOUTONS.

Veerji was a devoted and lovingfather, brother and husband. Hefulfilled all his worldly duties tohis family to the best of hisability. He took great care of his wife and sister. And he wasamazing son too. He took extra

ordinary care of his mother. Heused to give her medicine everyevening. When people used toask him that why he did nottravel abroad he would say thathe was not prepared to leave hismother.

Practising Sikh:

During his life, Veerji practicedand lived by the basic principlesof Sikhism, namely to earn oneslivelihood, share ones earnings

and remember the Name of the

Lord. For forty years of his life,he was an active participant inSikh religious affairs. He neveraccepted or took any money forhis kirtan services. He neverundertook the singing of theGurus hymns as a business, a

profession or a means of alivelihood. He undertook itpurely as a form of a seva.

Akaal Ashram at Sohana

During the course of hisbusiness, Veerji was visited by

many religious individuals andsaints from variousorganizations. Veerji alwaystook the opportunity to provideselfless service to all suchindividuals. It was as if Veerji

had received the gift of seva

from the divine. During thisperiod, Veerji met severalGurmukhs. He received theirblessings. In particular he wasclose to Sant Baba ShyamSingh.

When Veerji used to be atJyoshi Tent House, Baba ShyamSingh came to his shop and themoment he entered the shop heslapped Veerji. Veerji's worker,who was sitting next to him wasabout to stand up to stop BabaShyam Singh. Veerji however

prevented the worker. Baba Jitold him the reason for slappinghim was to check whether hehimself practised restraint andself control i.e. the attributesthat he preached to the sangatduring his katha. He told Veerjithat he was testing him.

As a young man Veerji used tospend, long hours absorbed inmeditation and in a religiousdiscussions with holy men whoused to come into his contact.


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Veerji though worked during the

day but in the early morning heused to meditate and reciteKirtan and make all the Sangatpray to God by singing andreciting Gurbani.For twelve consecutive years,

Veerji undertook and providedthe seva for Guru Ka Langar at

Gurdwara Sehra Sahib3 duringthe Hola Mahla festival whichtakes place in March or Aprilevery year. During those days,there used to be a watershortage for langar and the

sangat had to fetch the waterfrom distant places. Veerjitirelessly undertook the task ofproviding for a water supply tothat area. To facilitate this, heeven arranged for theconstruction of a HinduMandhir in a village in order to

secure their agreement to allow

the flow of water through their

village.

3GURDWARA SEHRA SAHIB

This Gurdwara has been built in village Bassi,about one km from Guru Ka Lahore. It washere that Guru Gobind Singh Sahib tied thesehra on his turban before the marriage partyleft for Guru Ka Lahore.

Due to his commitment toprovide selfless service withoutfinancial reward for his kirtanservices as well as his voluntaryreligious activities, there were

times when Veerji had to gothrough very tumultuousfinancial times.

But never at any time whatsoever did he waver in hiscommitment.

Sohana

In 1983, with the support of thesangat, he purchased a piece ofland at Village Sohana and laidthe foundation stone for theAkaal Ashram over there. It washere that initially a beautiful

Gurdwara was set up.

Subsequently with the supportof the sangat, and most notably

Dr. Harinderjit Singh4, a

prominent specialist inOphthalmology, from Georgia,USA, the Sri Guru Har KrishanHospital was established. TheSohana hospital was establishedin 1995 with an ophthalmologywing.

Dr Harinderjit Singh was highlysupportive of Veerji both interms of fund raising for theSohana hospital as well as thesupply of medical equipment.

Dr Harinderjit Singh

4 Dr Harinderjit Singh had established theSoutheast Retina Center in Augusta, USA in1984 and since then, has been serving Augustaand its surrounding areas with his clinicalexpertise in diagnosis and management of theRetina, Macula and Vitreous conditions usingstate-of-the-art technology.


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The hospital was later expanded

into a multi-specialty hospitalknown for providing treatmentat a reasonable cost.

A modern gynecology andobstetrics centre wasinaugurated by the Jathedar of Takht Sri Patna Sahib, GianiIqbal Singh in May 2002.

At the hospital, patients aretreated at very nominal fees andfor those who are unable toafford it, they are even treated

at no cost.

It has all the specialties likeEye, Dental, General Surgery,Gynaecology & Obstetrics,Orthopaedics, Urology, Ear Noseand Throat Department, Skin,

Medicine, Psychiatry, Intensive

Care Unit, X-Ray,Chemotherapy and Computerlab. It has 24-hour emergencyservices and is equipped withthe latest equipment for doingcomplicated surgeries and everyday about 500 to 600 patients

visit the OPD.

Fully trained doctors proficientin different fields are alwaysbusy in assisting patients whorequire treatment at thehospital.

Giani Iqbal Singh, Jathedar of Takht Patna

Sahib, with Veerji surveying the operating

theatre after the inauguration of the

gynaecology wing of Sri Harkrishan Sahib Eye

Hospital, May 5, 2002

Also with the inspiration and

blessing of Shri Guru GranthSahib Ji and with the support ofthe sangat Veerji has also beeninstrumental in providingambulance facility for accidentcases, trauma cases/first aidfacility at different highways.

This also assists those livingaround the area as well as toattend to emergency situationsfor the injured.

To assist the needs of thenearby and distant villages, freeeye check up clinics and

camps are arranged on arotational basis.

Branches of this hospital havealso been opened at Khannaand Sarhind. Both of these areoperating successfully.

In April 2006, the managementof Guru Harkrishan SahibCharitable Hospital, Sohana, inassociation with the NationalAssociation for the Blindannounced the setting up of an


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institute where the visually

impaired would be giventraining for different works tomake them self-dependent.

Academic classes will also bestarted at the institute. Thecentre is to be named the

B Centre for Education andRehabilitation of the Blind.

Amongst other things, hostelarrangements are being made toaccommodate students fromother cities or countries.

Bhai Khaniya Wing of the hospital

Whilst all of the above is due tothe unflinching commitmentand total dedication and energyand hard work of Veerji, they

are also a testimony to his

unflinching personal faith anddevotion to Gurbani.

Simran

Veerji never missed Simran inearly hours every day regardlessof any circumstances. It washis first priority to adviseSangat to attend the Simransessions. In 1992/1993 Veerjiencouraged the Sangat toassemble for Naam Simran asdaily routine. Simran

Samagams began to take placeregularly in Jalandhar,Ludhiana, Rajpura, Sohana,Patiala and Amritsar. The timefor such Samagam was set at 4am to 5 am at all the venues

In the pursuit of his main

objective, which was thepropagation of Naam Simran, atask which Veerji commencedright from his childhood, afterthe Gurdwara was built atSohana, he started Simran

sessions at the Gurdwara Akaal

Ashram in Sohana. TheseSimran sadhana sessions as well as discourses in GurbaniVichaar were carried on by himin the early hours of themorning (amrit vela) for manyyears.

At present, at this Gurdwara, atAmrit Vela, Nitnem of the fivebanis, Simran Sadhana,continuous katha of Gurbani,and in the evening Sodar diChowki, Katha of Suraj Parkashand kirtan continues to be done

daily. This has been going onever since the Gurdrwara wasbuilt.

For the benefit those pursuingtheir meditation practice, a


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All of this was due to Veerjistotal and absolute faith andconviction in the truth of theGurus word.

Ravinder Singh has nowundertaken the katha duty atthe Gurdwara Akaal Ashram,

Another incident concernedJaswinder Singh Khalsa headof the Guru Nanak Trust,Manchester, UK, who wasinfected with cancer and thedoctors had told him that he

would only be able to survive fora few days. Veerji lovinglyencouraged and guided him tolisten to Gurbani with faith.Khalsa Ji made arrangements tohave a paath at his ownresidence and upon being testedafter that, the cancer had totally

disappeared.

There are numerous otherinstances of other people who were cured through Veerjisintervention and assistance

after they had placed their total

faith and devotion in the SriGuru Granth Sahib.

Amritvela

Veerji stressed on theimportance of getting up atamritvela. He narrated severalpersonal experiences that hehad at amritvela which got himout of bed. One morning, whenhe was sleeping at home, allutensils in the house beganbanging against one another.

Veerji got up suddenly and hethought that it was his motherin the kitchen who was makingthe noise. When he saw the timeit was amritwela and there wasno one in the kitchen. Onanother occasion, he wassleeping and he heard someone

shouting loudly but when hewoke up, there was none there.It was amritwela and time torise.

He remained above all political

frays and retained a completelyuntarnished image.His unconditional surrenderand dedication to Sri GuruGranth Sahib and thepromotion of the concept ofshabad Guru touched a nerveamongst the Sikhi masses whoare under a constant barrage byself proclaimed sants, dehrasand babas who themselves areforever eager to become thesubject to worship

Nishkaam

Veerji was exceptional in that hedid nishkaam kirtan and kathai.e. purely for the love and joyof it and to spread the word ofthe Shabad Guru - without anyexpectation of financial rewardsor other material gains. Money

was never the motive nor thepurpose for which Veerji didkirtan and katha. It was purelyto spread the word of the Guru.


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And that is why when Veerji

sung, he did so with passionand with fervour.

Amrit Sanchaar

Veerji placed a great deal ofemphasis on the importance ofbecoming a baptised Sikh byaccepting Khade Ki Pauhal fromthe panj pyare. He was deeplyupset by the large numbers ofSikhs who wer becoming patit.Veerji delegated duties to

Sewadars in various cities toidentify patit youth, educatethem the Sikh values in orderto bring them back to the Sikhifold.

He took every opportunity in allhis programs both within Indiaas well as abroad to encouragethe sangat to discardintoxicants, lead a pure life andtake Khande Di Pahul.

In 1999, during the tri

centennial anniversary of theKhalsa, Veerji got 12,000 Sikhsto partake Khande di Pahul at

Anandpur Sahib. He did this ata time when all the other Sikhleaders were busy with theirpolitical infighting.

In 2005, Veerji got another 2500Sikhs to become baptised Sikhs.

During his samagams he wouldalways ask the members of thesangat to indicate theirreadiness to be baptised by a

show of hands.

Veerji, during his meetings withGursikhs during his travels,

identified suitable Gurmukhs in

the various towns and citiesthat he went to. He spoke tosuch individuals at a personallevel and arranged for them toact as part of the panj pyareduring any amrit sanchaarceremony in their respectivetowns or cities.

Veerjis goal, amongst otherthings was to have suitablequalified Gurmukhs in thevarious cities who were ready,willing and able to perform thisduty of baptising any Sikh who

was ready to be baptised.

At Akal Ashram Sohana, Amritceremony is conducted everySunday whereas at GurdwaraNouve Patshahiat Central Town Jalandhar, it is done everysecond Sunday of the month.The Kakars are provided free of

cost.


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Sehaj Paath

Veerji encouraged the sangat todo sehaj paths. He began asystem in Jalandhar from 1stMarch, 2006 in which heencouraged the members of thesangat to participate in therecitation of the entire Sri GuruGranth Sahib at designatedresidences. Witihin a period ofthree months one Sehaj Pathwas completed. The path wouldbe done for one hour in theevening in different homeswhere Sikh Sangat would attend

to listen.

Awards:

Veerji received various awardsduring his lifetime. Mostnotably, he was awarded the

Nishkam Kirtan award on

April 24 1996 by Akal TakhatSahib.

th

During his talks, he alwaysspoke about the drug de-addiction and always inspired

the people for de-addiction, aids

control, eye donation,environmental pollution etc. He was also instrumental inspreading the message of ShriGuru Gobind Singh Ji for Amritsanchar and undertookencouraged Sikhs wherever he went to commit themselves forAmrit Sanchar. Thousands ofpeople were baptized as a resultof his encouragement. On theoccasion of 300 Anniversary offormation fo the Khalsa, Veerjiinspired more than 12,000people for Amrit and got them

baptized at Shri AnandpurSahib.

th

In October 2003, the ShiromaniGurdwara ParbandhakCommittee constituted a 21-member Religious AdvisoryBoard (RAB), to frame rules for

the appointment and removal ofSikh high priests. Veerji was theleading member of this 21-member Religious AdvisoryBoard whose mandate alsoincluded the authority to

scrutinise the complaints being

received by Akal Takht beforethey are taken up by the Sikhclergy. The committee was alsoempowered to initiate talks withother Panthic organisations toresolve various Panthic matters.

Veerji also encouraged, inspiredand blessed many others to dolikewise, including, mostnotably, Bhai Tajinder Singh ofSimla. Bhai Tajinder Singh,although not a professional ragi,

is presently a nishkaam kirtaneaat Sachkhand Harminder Sahib.

Likewise, many Sikhs in variouscities around India have gainedinspiration from Veerji andformed themselves into


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particular attachment to the

mission of Sant Attar Singh andthe Akal Academy of theKalgidhar Society at BaruSahib. He visited Baru Sahib inMay 2004.

Veerji regularly held samagamsin Sohana in the memory ofSant Attar Singh, an eminentSikh spiritual leader.

Sant Attar Singh Ji

After the death of his mother,

Veerji made three trips to

blend of scientific and moral education) inthe lap of the Himalayas. His devoutdisciple Sant Teja Singh, MA, LLB (Punjab,India), AM (Harvard, USA) (1877-1965)took upon himself the task of fulfilling thevision of his mentor.

England, in 2004, 2005 and

again in 2006; one to Ireland, in2006 two to Dubai, one to

Kuwait and two to Canada,once in the summer of 2004 andagain in the summer of 2006.

The kirtan programs in Dubai were held in a warehouse and were very well attended andappreciated by the Sikh sangatof Kuwait.

Jaswinder Singh Khalsa wasprimarily instrumental inarranging the trips to the UK.

In Kuwait, Mr Mohinder SinghSaini arranged for Veerjisprograms which were held inthe large basement of hisresidence. The basement wasbig enough to accommodate thesangat of two to three hundred

Sikhs.

Veerji with members of Surrey, BC, sangat

His last trip outside of India wasto the United Kingdom where heheld samagams at variousGurdwaras from September 5thto September 17th 2006.All of the trips were highlysuccessful and thousands ofSikhs from these countries gotto meet and listen to Veerji live;something they would not havebeen able to do otherwise.

Wherever Veerji went, he

specifically made it a point tohave his kirtan programs in asmany Gurdwaras as possible.He was always sensitive to thelocal politics that existed in thecities that he visited and went


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out of his way to avoid being

embroiled in any frays. Hemade every effort to stay aboveall forms of politics and wasparticularly averse to theexisting divisions within theGurdwara managementcommittees. Not once was heever criticized for favouring anyone faction against another.

The Sikh sangats of many othercountries, especially the USAand Thailand made repeatedrequests of Veerji to visit thethose countries. The sangat in

the US had been longing to havehim over to have kirtanfunctions both on the East as well as the West coast,particularly in California.

The sangat in California wereplanning to welcome Veerji for

Vasakhi in 2007.

In early August of 2006, afterhis trip to Canada, Veerjitravelled to various small remotevillages in India including

Hassnapur, (Uttar Pardesh)

Latifpur , Merrut etc. Big crowdswelcomed Veerji to these villages where arrangements had beenmade to organize camps foryoung children.

In August 2006, Veerjiconducted programs on the23rd, 24th and 25th at theGurdwara Dukh Niwaran Sahibin Ludhiana at which he tookthe opportunity to inform thesangat about the setting up ofthe Sukrit Trust6. This wasdone with the assistance of the

6This Trust was launched on September 25

th

2006. The Sukrit Trust in co-operation withGuru Nanak Trust (Manchester) UK has startedorganising Sukhmani Sahib Kanth competitions

for school students.

The five objectives of the Trust are :a. Career Guidanceb. Coaching for Civil Service examsc. Vocation Trainingd. Self Hep Projectse. Placement Services

sangat in which Prof. Sarabjeet

Singh7, played a leading role.

Sant Santokh Singh

Among the several notable Sikhpersonalities who Veerji wasfond of and shared a great dealof love was Sant Baba SantokhSingh , Joti Saroop Wale. He isknown as Joti Saroop Walebecause his dhera is in front ofGurdwara Sahib Jyoti Saroop8,which is where the two youngersons of Guru Gobind Singh,Baba Fateh Singh and Baba

Zorawar Singh were cremated.

7Prof Sarabjeet Singh is the Assistant

Professor of Journalism at theCenter for

Communication, Languages and Culture,Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

8

Gurdwara Jyoti Sarup Sahib is situated in thecity of Fatehgarh Sahib, Sirhind. It is half akilometer away from Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahibon Chandigarh Road.Gurdwara Sahib JotiSaroop is only about 25 to 30 kilometers awayfrom Sohana


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He was always pleased to see

Sikhs in Sikhi saroop who weresuccessful in business, in theprofessions or in the civilservice.

He had a desire to create anetwork of such like mindedindividuals who could workcollectively for the panth.

There is not doubt that hadVeerji made a few more trips toNorth America and Europe, he would have helped establish aform of networking amongst

Sikh professionals from differentcountries. He took everyopportunity to mention thenames of the people whoimpressed him so that the worldwide sangat got to knowsuch individuals and recognisedtheir contributions.

Shardanjali samagams:

After Veerjis passing,Shardanjali samagams to paytributes to Veerji were held invarious parts of the world. Themain samagam was held atGurdwara Akaal Ashram inSohana on October 22nd 2006.Among those who attended thebhog were Giani Joginder SinghVedanti, Jathedar Akal Takht,Giani Tirlochan Singh JathedarKeshgarh Sahib, Giani BalwantSingh Khalsa JathedarDamdama Sahib and Giani

Iqbal Singh Jathedar PatnaSahib.

Bhai Gurmej Singh, formerHead Ragi of Sri HarminderSahib did kirtan and sang theshabad Gurmukh Sadey JaanAwan Ghalleya. Some of the

other ragis present wereHarbans Singh Jagadri, Joginder Singh Riar, SantAnoop Singh Una Wale, BhaiRavinder Singh, Bhai Balwinder

Singh Rangila and Bhai

Manpreet Singh Kanpur Wale.

Many prominent Sikhpersonalities who were unableto attend the shardanjli havesubsequently paid their respectsand recorded their tributes which can be heard in mp3format onwww.panthrattan.com.

Bhai Gurmej Singh at the Shardanjalisamagam

Samagams were also held inEngland, Vancouver, B.C and atToronto, Ontario.
http://www.panthrattan.com/http://www.panthrattan.com/


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Prof Darshan Singh at the Shardanjalisamagam held for Veerji in Toronto at DixieGurdwaras Sahib on November 12

th2006

A Rainsbhai Keertan, organisedby Akhand Kirtani Jatha UK atSingh Sabha Gurdwara Sahib,ILFORD, on Saturday 21st

October to commemorate theGurgaddi Divas Guru GranthSahib Ji was also dedicated toVeerji.

In India Shardanjli samagamscontinue to be held at variouscities including Ludhiana and

Jalandhar.

Needless to say, Veerji was morethan deserving of this award. Noother Sikh during the currenttimes even comes close to being

able to match what Veerji did

and accomplished during hislifetime. He was not just akirtinea, which is the popularmisconception. He was anishakaam kirtean and one who was anxious to spread theconcept of nishkaam kirtan inthis increasingly world of

commercialisation.

He was unique in that despitehis immense popularity henever had the prefix baba orsant to his name.

The Shardanjali samagam at Sohana

He was unique in that instead ofconstructing an endless numberof Gurdwaras, he establishedand promoted charitable causes

to help the less fortunate, the

under-privileges the sick andthe needy.

Sangat at the Shardanjali samagam held forVeerji at Sohana on October 22

nd 2006

He had the foresight and desireto bring about change where itmattered most i.e. in thepromotion of education andqualified Sikhs who could act asrole models to the youngergeneration.

Veerji also had the foresight torealise that it was necessaryand important for him toappoint a successor during hislifetime someone who couldcarry on with the seva. More


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