Simranjit Singh Mann (born 20 May 1945)[1] is a former Indian Police Service officer and a former Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, representing the constituency of Sangrur since 2022. He lost elections in 2024 and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer became new member of parliament. He is the president of the political party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mann has served three-times as an MP; once from Taran Tarn between 1989 and 1991, and twice from Sangrur between 1999-2004 and since 2022.[2][3][4] He is a known Khalistani supporter and his party is known for their pro-Khalistan stances.[5][6][7]
Early life
Simranjit Singh Mann was born in Shimla on 20 May 1945.[1] His father Joginder Singh Mann, was a speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1967.[8]
Mann was educated at the Bishop Cotton School, Shimla and Government College Chandigarh. He was a gold medalist in the subjects of history, Punjabi language, religion and political science.[1]
Indian Police Service
Mann joined the Indian Police Service in 1967, and served in the Punjab Cadre of the Service.[1]
He was elected in absentia to the Lok Sabha representing the constituency of Tarn Taran by an overwhelming majority, and unconditionally released "in the interests of the State" in November 1989, with all charges dropped. By this time he had spent five years in prison.[11]
In 1990, Mann insisted on bearing his Kirpan (small sword) into the Parliament session, a religious rite in the Sikh Faith. The security regulations of the Parliament did not allow arms into the house. Accordingly, was denied entry into the Sansad Bhavan (Parliament house) with the weapon. Mann decided to not attend the Parliament.[12] He subsequently resigned his seat in protest.[13]
On 23 March 2004, Prakash Singh Badal accused Mann of running derogatory ads against him and indulging in character assassination.[15]
He contested re-election in the 2004 Indian general election from Sangrur constituency but lost the election and came in third position.
He remained the president of the SAD (Amritsar) party for eighteen years. In the 2007 Punjab Legislative Assembly election SAD (Amritsar) contested on 60 seats. Radical organization Dal Khalsa (International) had supported candidates of SAD (Amritsar). Mann had contested from Dhanaula Assembly constituency and his son Emaan Singh Mann contested from Sirhind. All the 60 candidates including Mann lost the election with big margins. Most candidates of SAD (Amritsar) had lost their security deposit in the election. Mann offered to resign after his party's poor performance.[9]
In June 2022, he won the by-poll for the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency vacated by then MP, Bhagwant Mann, who went to become Chief Minister of Punjab, Mann won the election by a margin of 5,822 votes. During the election he campaigned for the release of Sikh prisoners.[17][18][19] His grandson was in-charge of his election campaign.[20]
In August 2022, he objected to President Droupadi Murmu being referred to as the name "Rashtrapati". He said, "I strongly believe Rashtrapati word is an insult to a woman President." His comments were expunged from the records of the parliament.[21] He asked for elections in the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of Sikhs.[22]
Mann is a proponent of Sikh nation state Khalistan.[17] Under his leadership, his party SAD (A) continued its position of creating Khalistan as a buffer state between India and Pakistan. Under him, SAD (A) continued spreading the ideology of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.[1]
Every year his supporters gather in the sacred Golden Temple and raise pro-Khalistan slogans. He dedicated his 2022 Lok Sabha election victory to the Khalistan separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.[17][24]
On 20 March 2023, Mann's Twitter account was blocked in India. Mann had tweeted condemning the Punjab Police's operation against separatist leader Amritpal Singh and the arrest of his supporters.[25][26]
Bhagat Singh
In 2007, Mann had called freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, a "petty terrorist". A lawsuit was filed against him, but the prosecution failed to prove its case and he was acquitted by the civil court in 2013. After his release, Mann said, "My acquittal has vindicated my words that Bhagat Singh was a terrorist and not a martyr."[27]
In 2015, he objected to naming the Chandigarh airport after Bhagat Singh and called him a terrorist. He had said, "Bhagat Singh is neither a martyr nor a national hero. He is a terrorist. We are against the naming of Chandigarh International airport as Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Airport."[28]
In 2022, he called Bhagat Singh "a terrorist" involved in "terror activities in pre-Independent India".[29] AAP leaders condemned the statement and asked him to apologize.[30][31] Residents of Khatkar Kalan, Bhagat Singh's native village protested near the Bhagat Singh Museum, shouted slogans of "Death to Simranjit Singh Mann", hit his effigy with shoes and burnt it.[32]
General Reginald Dyer
In 1919, after General Reginald Dyer's Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Mann's maternal grandfather Arur Singh, then sarbarah (in-charge) of the Golden Temple had honoured General Dyer with a "siropa" at Akal Takht. Singh was a British government appointee. Arur Singh's act hurt Sikh psyche and is considered a "Black chapter" in Sikh history. In July 2022, Mann defended the act of his grandfather saying he did it to pacify Dyer's anger.[33]
