Born on January 2, 1932, in Sangrur's backward Gadarhiani village, Harchand  Singh was the youngest of four sons of a simple God fearing farmer, Mansa Singh. While his brothers helped to till the fields, the quiet Harchand Singh immersed himself in Kirtan and religious discourses. At nine, he joined the Dera of Sant Jodh Singh and grew up in the shadow of the old priest. Life at the Dera was hard, much like a Buddhist  monastery and the inmates were trained in total sublimation of the self. He never gave up his frugal life-style and simple habits. At the Dera, he and other inmates learned, humility by going out and begging for food. Till the end, his usual meal consisted of  two rotis with a dal  or  a  vegetable.  A  bachelor, he made his home in two rooms at the Kambhowal Gurdwara, which he had built. Harchand Singh soon earned renown as a gifted ragi (singer of 'religious hymns in Gurbani and Brijbhasha. At 30, he became the head priest of Damdama Sahib Takhat, one of the five sacred takhts of the Sikh religion. People started flocking to the Gurdwara in hundreds to seek advice and blessings from the ever smiling 'Sant' as he now began to be called.

But  the young Sant  seemed predestined to be drawn into public life. A man sensitive to the needs of the poor,  he never hesitated  to organise morchas-whether it was a fight of tenants against  landlords  or  the  status of the non-elected Government in PEPSU (Before the formation of Punjab).  Understandably, the Akali Dal asked him to fight the 1967 Assembly elections and he did. But he was  a  reluctant politician, and he went into hiding rather than follow  the party's wishes to contest  a parliamentary election.

His religious training gave him the courage to say and do what he considered right and even to hazard his life if his convictions so demanded. He was convinced that Punjab could not exist separately from India and the chasm dividing Hindus and Sikhs had to be bridged. Unmindful of threats by terrorists, he set about creating an atmosphere of communal amity. "I have but one mission-to bring back the  fraternal  feelings  between  Hindus and Sikhs. My method is of "live and let live", he confided only hours before his death to Akali lawyer Gurnam Singh Tir who was drafting the party's  election manifesto.

From small details we have of his days as a young scholar of theology, music and history at a Sikh seminar, we see that a life of  utmost simplicity, frugality and  purity had a deep and soulful attraction for him. A Monk-like cast of thought  and  conduct,  and  an  instinctive  shyness of spirit characterised his ways even at this stage. No wonder, his loving mentor, Sant Jodh Singh,  whose  benign  influence  remained  an abiding force in his life till the end, had given him the endearing sobriquet of 'Nath'. His was a life spent in worship and prayer, in kirtan and kirat. Even  when  the call of  duty  involved  him  in morchas and agitations, he had no interests, no ambitions outside of  these simple parameters. The  dominant  traits  of  his  character  were honesty, humility, patience, and resilience. It is indeed remarkable that as a political personage of  such  eminence  and  authority,  he  had  few detractors, and fewer foes. His sincerity came through at any meeting with him, and even his political  adversaries had  to  acknowledge  the moral fibre of the personality. Even when the events in Punjab had begun to take a lethal turn, and he was in the very eye of the storm, as it were, he lost not a whit of his wonted serenity. He died on 20th August 1985.

The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative stamp in honour of Sant Longowal.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India