THE JOURNEY OF A LEGEND Chp-06

8/2/2019 THE JOURNEY OF A LEGEND Chp-06

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Mother Teresa blessing

Giving a helping hand to Mother Teresa

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Chapter...A St rong Support er Of H umanit y

TRUE PATRIOT Shri Harbhajan Singh's whole lifewas fully devoted to the most dear causes namely NationalUnity of the Country and the integration of the Nation and

he worked tirelessly towards that end till the very last day.

Not only that he preached his views in publicspeeches but also put the same in actual practice when thetime and occasion arose. A gentleman to the hilt withprogressive views, a proud father of two sons and adaughter, Harbhajan Singh Ji married his darling daughter

to a boy from a non-Sikh family.

After Mrs. Indira Gandhi's unfortunate assassinationby her own Securitymen in October 1984 the whole ofCapital and some other parts of the country witnessedlarge-scale slaughter of Sikhs as its after effect. Like the rest

A

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“ Harbhajan Singh Ji married

his darling daughter to a

boy from a non-

Sikh family.”



... with former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral

...with the then Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda

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of the nation he was greatly pained. Condemning thewhole thing he said time and again in strongest of wordsthat terrorists have no religion. They can come from anyclass from the World over. He exhorted forcefully thatreligion and politics do not go together. The two need not

be mixed-up.

Greatly peeved on the dastardly attack on Mrs IndiraGandhi he penned a book in record time. A Prime MinisterAssassinated. For decades together he organized veryenthusiastically very many Conferences, Seminars,Symposia meetings inviting all the political heavy-weights

his personal friends from time to time to address the wellattended gatherings. He was a man with roving eyes. Goinga step further he used to honour men and women thebrave sons and daughters from all over the country whoworked for the national unity and integration of thecountry while celebrating Indira Gandhi's and RajivGandhi's birthdays. The whole purpose behind all this wasto spur others to carry on with the good work of healthy

nation-building and constructive endeavour to keep thetricolor flag fluttering with our head high thereby giving apush to developmental activit ies.

The salient feature being to recognize their meritand honouring the deserving ones publicly to boosttheir morale in order to set them on the road to achieve

still higher goals. With every passing year he improvedand enlarged the scope of his activities and that of thedifferent organizations he headed in his capacity as theFounder Secretary General of National Unity Conferenceand NRI Welfare Society of India.

“He used to honour men and

women the brave sons and

daughters from all over the country who

worked for t he nat ional unity

and integration of the country

while celebratingIndira Gandhi's and

Rajiv Gandhi's Birthdays.”

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...with the then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar

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He being a star speaker his services were utilisedby his politician friends during general elections. Thepoet-politician and veteran Professor from OrissaS.S. Mohapatra the former secretary general of the All -India Congress Committee, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna,

Vasant Sathe, Buta Singh, Bhishma Narain Singh,Arjun Singh, Jagjivan Ram, Balram Jakhar, A.R. Kidwai,Narayan Datt Tiwari, Chaudhari Randhir Singh, e.t.c. Eventhough he was quite close to Shri Rajiv Gandhi and Smt.Indira Gandhi and a seat in the Rajya Sabha or a CongressTicket for the Lok Sabha was not too much for the asking,but he never hankered for any favors. That was not in his

ilk. Such a thorough gentleman was Harbhajan Singh.

Thousands of workers from all over the countrycoming from the media world of small & medium Pressknew it well as to how dear to his heart was the dream of aunited, peaceful and prosperous India - an India in which allIndians, irrespective of their religions, language or politicalpersuasion live together as one big family in an atmosphere

free from mutual rivalries and prejudices. But with hisuntimely death his work remains unfinished. So in order tocomplete that very task his friends step in full measure. Forhe infused them with self - confidence and a sense ofpurpose to work for a united, strong and prosperousnation - an India devoted to the cause of peace in a troubledworld.

I found out for myself three dominant traits in hisoutlook and they were first, his firm belief in India's futureas a great country for at the end of each of his speeches hewould say at the top of his voice - Mera Bharat Mahaan-;second his deep concern and compassion for the poor-in

“Seat in the Rajya Sabha or a Congress Ticket

for the Lok Sabha was not

too much for the asking.”

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... with H is Excellency Giani Zail Singh President of India

these two points he never made any compromise inthought or action. And third he was all proud of being anIndian and also exhorted his comrades to feel that way.

Both as a person and as leader in his own right, he mademonumental contribution to the concept of developmentwithout destruction ultimately leading to national unity andintegration - For communal harmony worked and actedlike more as a sort of bridge between India and SovietFederation, India and The Chinese Republic.

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“At the end of each of his

speeches he would say at the top of his voice -

Mera Bharat Mahaan.”



...with the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee presenting a statue of Lord Ganesha

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A patriot to the core when terrorism was at its peak,taking the extreme step he tried to immolate himselfopposite his Connaught Place Office at Palika Bazaar GateNo.7 that he had told every body in advance. The momenthe poured oil on himself he was whisked away by the Delhi

Police only to be released immediately afterwards.

Today Harbhajan Singh Ji is not with us, physicallyspeaking, but he is certainly with us in as far as his spirit isconcerned and he continues working with us to strengthenfurther the organizations and institutions he stood for.

“As far as his spirit is

concerned he continues

working with us to strengthen

further the organizations

and inst itutions he stood for.”



Shri Harbhajan Singh honouring Field Marshall K.M. Kariappa with the National Unity Award

Because in the ult imate analysis what really matters are theideas, beliefs and policies one stands for.

Harbhajan Singh, very often, led the Delegationsof Federation members to the Rashtrapati Bhavan andPrime Minister's Residence. He also saw to it that hisactive ones were placed on the highest decision makingBodies of the Media like National AccreditationCommittee, the Press Council of India, Member PressInformation Bureau, on DAVP empanelment in a 3-

Member Committee to release Governmentadvertisements to Small and Medium Newspapers thatadded strength to the Federation.

I am reminded of at one of such receptions Mr. JaiPrakash Agarwal, The Rajya Sabha Member and currently

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“Harbhajan Singh, very often,

led the Delegations of

Federation members to the

Rashtrapati

Bhavan and Prime Minister's

Residence.”



Over a cup of Tea with Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw

“ He loved

invit ing people and playing as a

good host.”

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President Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee had this tosay about Harbhajan Singh and I quote "He loved invitingpeople and playing as a good host.

Those were the days of Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai.

There was a regular exchange of Delegations from theFourth Estate-Media People and Cultural Delegationsvisiting the Peoples Republic of China and ChineseDelegations visiting India. Sardar Harbhajan Singh himselfled many a Delegation and wrote and reported in the



Welcoming Hon’ble Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, President of India

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Indian Observer in serialized form for his readers benefitand knowledge at length about his impressions on China,their remarkable achievements and excellent all-roundprogress made in a short span of time having got theirindependence in the year 1949. Numerous readers of

Indian Observer sent letters to the Editor congratulating



Dr. Manmohan Singh with Shri Harbhajan Singh at his Defence Colony residence

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him for his sense and style of description. The Prime

Minister Smt Indira Gandhi in a signed letter was all praisefor Mr. Singh and had this to say, Your impressionsregarding China are very interesting and informative too.Keep it up."

“ The Prime

Minister Smt Indira Gandhi in a signed letter

was all praise for Mr. Singh and

had this to say,Your impressions regarding China

are very interesting and informative too.

Keep it up.”

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THE JOURNEY OF A LEGEND Chp-06