Jagjit Singh Chauhan

Jagjit Singh Chohan (1929 – 4 April 2007) was a major Sikh leader of the Khalistan movement that sought to create a sovereign Sikh state in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Chohan established the Council of Khalistan at Anandpur Sahib on 12 April 1980 and became its first self‐styled president. Politics Jagjit Singh grew up in Tanda in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, about 180 km from Chandigarh. He was a dentist. Chohan was first elected to the Punjab Assembly from the Tanda as a candidate of the Republican Party of India in 1967. He became Deputy Speaker when the Akali Dal-led coalition Government took office in Punjab. When Lachhman Singh Gill became Chief Minister, Chohan was made Finance Minister. In 1969, he lost the Assembly election. Activity overseas Two years after losing the Punjab Assembly elections in 1969, Chohan moved to the United Kingdom to start his campaign for creation of Khalistan. In 1971, he went to Nankana Sahib in Pakistan to attempt to set up a Sikh government. Chohan was invited by Pakistani army dictator Yahya Khan and was proclaimed as a Sikh leader. Certain Sikh relics that were in Pakistan were handed down to him and taken to UK. The relics had helped Chohan to gather Sikh supporters and followers. He then visited the United States at the invitation of his supporters among the Sikh diaspora. On 13 October 1971, he paid for an ad in the New York Times claiming an Independent Sikh state. Advertisement of Khalistan enabled him to collect millions of dollars from the Sikh diaspora.