Baldev Singh

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For other people named Baldev Singh, see Baldev Singh (disambiguation).

Baldev Singh
Member of Parliament - Lok Sabha
In office
1952–1959
Personal details
Born(1902-07-11)July 11, 1902
Akali Dal
Alma materKhalsa College

Baldev Singh (

Defence Minister of India. Moreover, he represented the Punjabi Sikh community in the processes of negotiations that resulted in the independence of India, as well as the Partition of India
in 1947.

After independence, Baldev Singh was chosen to become the first

First Kashmir War between India and Pakistan. He was addressed often with the title of Sardar, which in Punjabi and Hindi
means leader or chief.

Early life and political career

Baldev Singh was born on 11 July 1902 in the village of Dumna in a

steel industry
. He rose to the position of director of the firm. He was married to Hardev Kaur of village Jallanpur in Punjab. They had two sons, Sarjit Singh and Gurdip Singh.

Baldev Singh won an election to the Punjab provincial assembly under the

Tara Singh and the Shiromani Akali Dal
.

Cripps Mission and World War II

See also:
Indian Independence Movement

When the Cripps Mission arrived in India in 1942 to offer Indians some form of self-government, Baldev Singh was chosen to represent the Sikh community in the talks, which also included the chief Indian political party, the Indian National Congress and Muslim League party. The Mission failed to make any progress.

While the Congress Party launched the

Unionist Party
to form a government in Punjab, and became the provincial Development Minister for a brief time in the summer of 1942.

Cabinet Mission and government

Baldev Singh was chosen again to represent the Sikh viewpoint to the Cabinet Mission Plan that had arrived to discuss proposals for Indian political independence. Singh reiterated the Sikh view that India should remain a united country with special protections for the rights of religious minorities. Singh also insisted that should partition become inevitable, the division of the Punjab should happen in a way to offer territorial protection to the Sikhs from

Muslim
domination.

Although Baldev Singh and other Sikhs initially opposed the implementation of the Mission's 16 May scheme, on the grounds that it did not offer any protection to the Sikh community, Baldev Singh joined the new Viceroy's Executive Council, to be headed by Congress leaders

Vallabhai Patel as the Sikh member. Singh became the Defence Member, a post erstwhile held by the British Commander in Chief of the Indian Army
. However, by early 1947, it was clear that the interim government would not work, owing to the conflict between the Congress Party and the Muslim League.

Partition of India

See also: Partition of India

Although Baldev Singh and other Sikhs initially opposed the implementation of the Mission's 16 May scheme, in the grounds that it did not offer any protection to the Sikh community, Baldev Singh joined the new Viceroy's Executive Council, to be headed by Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel as the Sikh member. Singh became the Defence minister.

As defence minister

See also:
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Baldev Singh with C. Rajagopalachari and Chiefs of Staff

On 15 August 1947, India became an independent nation and Baldev Singh became India's first

Minister of Defence, under the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Singh was also a member of the Constituent Assembly of India
.

Along with

Home Minister, Singh became responsible for leading the Indian Army's efforts to provide security, relief and refuge to over 10 million Hindus and Sikhs who were leaving the newly created Pakistan. Terrible violence broke loose on both sides of the frontier along the Punjab and Bengal
, and to date it is estimated that over 1 million people were killed, with millions more suffering from usual acts of cruelty and great physical and personal trauma from the migration.

The Army was caught unprepared, and itself was torn apart by the conflict. Thousands of Muslim officers were leaving for Pakistan. Riots had broken out in

Bombay
. Patel and Singh led from the front, and despite a heavy toll, the Army finally re-asserted peace and rule of law all over India and the borders of Punjab and Bengal. They organized massive relief and aid operation for the millions of people arriving in India.

Defence Minister Singh also led the preparations and planning

for the war in Jammu and Kashmir, which had broken out with Pakistani tribesmen and some military officers had made an incursion into the state with the aim of annexing it into Pakistan. Over almost two years, the Indian Army would wage battle with the militants and the Pakistan Army at the highest altitudes in the world. The Army succeeded in pushing back the raiders and captured most of the contested territory. On 28 November 1948, General Roy Bucher had adviced Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to agree to a ceasefire because "overall military decision was no longer possible".[2] Bucher in his interview with B.R. Nanda had said that Baldev Singh finally informed him on 31 December to agree with the ceasefire.[3]

In September 1948, Baldev Singh and his commanders prepared plans for

Hyderabad into the Indian Union. Singh remained a close advisor on managing the Kashmir conflict and the issues of political integration of India
.

After the 1952 elections of India, Singh was succeeded by N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar as defence minister.[4]

Later life

In 1952, Baldev Singh was elected to the

Akali Dal
. He was re-elected to the Parliament in 1957.

Singh died in Delhi after a prolonged illness in 1961. He was survived by his two sons, Sarjit Singh (1927–1993 AD) and Gurdip Singh. Sarjit Singh was the Co-operatives minister in the government of Parkash Singh Badal. He was married to Raj Mohinder Kaur and is survived by his son TejBal Singh and his daughter Jaspreet Kaur. Gurdip Singh was married to Baljit Kaur and had 4 children. Baldev Singh had 7 great grandchildren. His nephew Ravi Inder Singh was the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sardar Baldev Singh, 58, Dies; First Defense Minister of India". The New York Times. 30 June 1961.
  2. ^ "Kashmir letters cast doubt on claims Nehru blundered by agreeing ceasefire". The Guardian. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  3. ^ Paul, Bikash C. (14 December 2019). "Cobrapost Exclusive: Nehru wanted to attack Pakistan in 1947 after it invaded Kashmir". Cobrapost.
  4. ISBN 978-0-520-37041-8
    .

External links
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