Mission
IdeaXchange's mission is to provide a platform to hold constructive discussions by people of different ideologies and walks of life to find solutions for the pressing needs of the Punjabi and Sikh diaspora spread globally.
Our Inspiration behind ideaxchange
Those who are born will die one day and will part with the beings and material of this world forever. Every such parting brings pain to those who are left behind. Pain of such parting is invariably restricted to the household of the deceased while in rare cases it is spread across his village, town or city. It is rarest of the rare that departure of a person causes pain to the soul of a community across the globe. Such is the parting of the Living Encyclopedia, Panth Sewak Sardar Jaswant Singh Mann.
Sardar Jaswant Singh Mann was born on October 28, 1943 to the household of Dr. Lal Singh and Sardarni Joginder Kaur at Chichawatni, District Montgomery (Presently known as Sahiwal). This geographical area was once under Sarkar-e-Khalsa (Sikh Empire) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, later part of the Undivided Punjab and presently part of the fractured Punjab in Pakistan.
His birth in the first part of the 20th century in an English educated Sikh household and his marriage to Dr. Tripat Kaur, daughter of S. Narain Singh MA (The Panthic leader of Nankana Sahib Fame and author of “Why Didst Thou Trust” on Operation Blue Star) made his commitment to the cause of Panth, Sikhism and Undivided Punjab very deep rooted.
His schooling was spread across various parts of Punjab because of the transferable job of his father, a veterinary surgeon with Punjab Government. Among other places, he would fondly remember his schooling at Dharamkot and Sherpur, (Sangrur). He graduated from Layallpur Khalsa College Jalandhar with Honours in English. In 1962 he joined Panjab University Chandigarh and completed his MA in English and LLB. Subsequently he did his Masters in Law with specialization in Company Law. During his stay at Punjab University his friendly circle grew by leaps and bounds. His friends at the University were very talented and each of them did well for themselves in life. This circle of friends formed the basis of his World Wide Network of Contacts
He had a keen interest in Sikh and Punjab affairs from the very beginning. At the nascent age of 16 years and as a student of Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar he joined the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) in 1959. After working tirelessly in the Organisation for 8 years, he became the President of AISSF in 1967 and served at that position till 1970. During his time with AISSF he had the opportunity to be closely associated with Akali stalwarts of the day like Master Tara Singh, Sirdar Hargurnad Singh and Sirdar Kapur Singh ICS. The primary care givers to Master Tara Singh during his last days at PGI, were S. Jaswant Singh Mann and his close friend, S. Gurtej Singh IAS. Sirdar Kapur Singh ICS, was his icon and political philosopher. He actively assisted S. Kapur Singh during the assembly elections at Samrala and Parliamentary elections at Ludhiana. As the President of AISSF he was instrumental in compilation and publication of writings and speeches of S. Kapur Singh in the form of a book which was named as, “Some Documents on the Demand for Sikh Homeland”. This book was banned in India but a copy of the same is available in the US archives. He was very passionate about a grand reconciliation of erstwhile undivided Punjab (essentially Pakistan) and freedom of Sikhs as a Nation in all respects worldwide.
He was always very affectionately close to his peer of group of AISSF despite the fact that many of them during the course of their lives steered away from the cause of Panth and Punjab. Among many, S. Buta Singh former Home Minister of India is one such example. Till his last he would respect S. Buta Singh like a younger brother. He was bestowed with a unique quality to have friends who were 15-20 years his senior and also to have friends who were 25-30 years younger to him.
His elderly friends included
- S. Gian Singh Rarewala
- S. Partap Singh Kairon
- Justice Gurnam Singh
- S. Parkash Singh Badal
- Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra
- Principal Bharpur Singh
The notable friends of his age included
- S. Harcharan Singh Chief Secretary SGPC
- S. Manjit Singh Calcutta
- S. Simranjeet Singh Mann
- S. Paramjit Singh Sarna
- S. Pritam Singh Mohali
- Late S. Gurrattan Pal Singh Advocate
- S. Sarabdeep Singh Virk IPS
- S. Mehal Singh Bhullar IPS
- S. Chiranjeev Singh IAS
- S. Gurtej Singh IAS
- S. Gurdev Singh IAS
- S. Jagmohan Singh Kang IAS
- Dr. Gurdarshan Singh Dhillon
- Dr. Puran Singh Jassi
- S. Didar Singh Bains (USA)
- Harinder Singh Khalsa MP
- Charanjeet Singh Atwal Speaker Punjab Assembly
- Balwant Singh Ramoowalia
- S. Birdevinder Singh
- Master Mohan Lal
- S. Sucha Singh Chotepur
- Malkiat Singh Nagpur
- Capt. Amarinder Singh
- S. Bhagwant Singh Oman
- Sh. Nitin Gadkari Union Minister
- Adesh Partap Singh Kairon
- S. Jagmeet Singh Brar
- S. Sukhpal Singh Khaira
- Gurinderpal Singh Dhanola
- Simranjeet Singh Advocate
- Gurvinder Singh Sidhu Advocate
- Prof Manjit Singh Chandigarh
- Gopal Singh Sidhu
He had very intimate relationship with Sikh Religious leaders like Prof. Manjit Singh (former Jathedar Akal Takhat) and Giani Kewal Singh besides others. He was gifted with a unique quality of making friends with strangers of every age, background and belief. He was a very self-respecting man who would never let ego come his way while making up with any one. Anybody who would come to him soliciting any kind of help was never turned back. He lived by the apostle that you cannot say no to help a person who has come to your door.
In his every breath he would remember the land of his birth and would talk about Jinnah and Pakistan with watery eyes. His circle of friends extended across the border and he was very fond of Col. Javed Akhtar Kahlon and would stay with them at Lahore. Col. Khalon’s wife was member of the Parliament of Pakistan. At Lahore, once he addressed a women seminar on “Role of Women in World Progress”. He narrated the lives of many progressive Muslim women. The fashion conscious Ladies of Lahore were mesmerized with the knowledge and eloquence both in English and Punjabi of this simple looking, blue turbaned, white Kurta Pajama clad Sikh having white flowing Beard. During one of his addresses, the Muslim dominated Bar of Jammu and Kashmir High Court was totally taken to wonder on his knowledge of Islam and Comparative Religion.
Professionally he was man of Finance and remained a Banker through his working years. Having worked with Punjab & Singh Bank, he was instrumental in establishing Bank of Punjab and along with the iconic Banker Dr. Inderjeet Singh in the early Nineties. He gave the name to the Bank too.
Continuing with his commitment to the cause of Panth and Punjab was founder Secretary General of the World Sikh Council in 1996. During his stint with World Sikh Council he propounded the concept of World Sikh University which was later established at Fatehgarh Sahib. He parted ways with Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) when the Party’s Leadership became dynastic and without caring for any fruits of Political Power went on to re-establish Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra’s All India Shiromni Akali Dal in 2003. To fulfill his vision of a United Non dynastic Akali Dal he merged his Party with Shromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and was serving as its Secretary General.
Blessed with a photographic memory his only passion was buying and reading books. He has a collection of more than 25000 books at home. The only place besides home, he would spend his evenings was English Book Shop in Sector 17. He was the first to buy every well written book on any subject. During his various visits to the United States, Canada and England the only shopping he ever did was Books.