View source for Baldev Singh

{{Short description|Indian entrepreneur and politician (1901-1961)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Sardar
| name = Baldev Singh
| image = (From left) Kanhaiyalal M. Munshi, Sardar Baldev Singh and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on the Greeneries of Indian Parliament..jpg
| caption = Baldev Singh (C) with [[B. R. Ambedkar|Babasaheb Ambedkar]] (R) and [[K. M. Munshi]] (L) on the Greeneries of Indian Parliament in 1949
| office = 1st [[Minister of Defence (India)|Minister of Defence]]
| prime_minister = [[Jawaharlal Nehru]]
| term_start = 15 August 1947
| term_end = 13 May 1952
| predecessor = Position established
| successor = [[N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar]]
| office1 = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
| term_start1 = 1957
| term_end1 = 19
| predecessor1 = [[Diwan Chand Sharma]]
| successor1 = Amar Nath
| constituency1 = [[Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency|Hoshiarpur, Punjab]]
| office2 = 
| term_start2 = 1952
| term_end2 = 1957
| predecessor2 = Position established
| successor2 = Constituency abolished
| constituency2 = [[Nawan Shahr Lok Sabha constituency|Nawan Shahr, Punjab]]

| office3 = [[Constituent Assembly of India|Member of the Constituent Assembly]]
| term_start3 = 1946
| term_end3 = 1950
| predecessor3 = 
| successor3 = 
| constituency3 = [[East Punjab]]

| office4 = Minister for Development, Government of Punjab
| term_start4 = 1942
| term_end4 = 1946
| predecessor4 = 
| successor4 = 
| constituency4 = 

| office5 = Member of the [[Punjab Provincial Assembly (British India)|Punjab Provincial Assembly]]
| term_start5 = 1936
| term_end5 = 1946
| predecessor5 = 
| successor5 = 
| constituency5 = 

| birth_date = {{birth date|1902|7|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Rupar]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj]] <small>(now [[India]])</small>
| death_date = {{death date and age|1961|6|29|1902|7|11|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Sardar Baldev Singh, 58, Dies; First Defense Minister of India |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/06/30/archives/sardar-baldev-singh-58-dies-first-defense-minister-of-india.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=1961-06-30}}</ref>
| death_place = [[Delhi, India]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]<br>[[Shiromani Akali Dal]]<br>[[Akali Dal]]
| spouse = 
| alma_mater = [[Khalsa College, Amritsar|Khalsa College]]
}}

'''Baldev Singh''' ({{langx|pa|ਬਲਦੇਵ ਸਿੰਘ}},{{langx|hi|बलदेव सिंह}}) (11 July 1902 – 29 June 1961) was an Indian [[Sikh]] political leader, he was an [[Indian independence movement]] leader and the first [[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 [[Minister of Defence]], and served in this post during the [[First Kashmir War]] between [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. He was addressed often with the title of ''Sardar'', which in [[Punjabi language|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 [[Jat people|Jat]] family in the [[Rupar]] district of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]. His father was Sir Indra Singh, a reputed industrialist, and his mother was  Nihal Kaur Singh (of village Manpur). He was educated initially at Kainaur and subsequently at the [[Khalsa College, Amritsar|Khalsa College]] in [[Amritsar]], and began working in his father's firm in the [[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 [[Government of India Act 1935]] in 1937, as a candidate of the [[Panthic Party]]. He became closely linked with Master [[Tara Singh Malhotra|Tara Singh]] and the [[Shiromani Akali Dal]].

==Cripps Mission and World War II==
{{See also|Sir Stafford Cripps|History of India|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 [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] party. The Mission failed to make any progress.

While the Congress Party launched the [[Quit India Movement]], Baldev Singh and other Sikh leaders did not support it. Singh negotiated an agreement with [[Sir Sikandar Hyat Khan]], the leader of the [[Unionist Muslim League|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 [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel|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}}
[[File:1948 CR Baldev Singh Chiefs of Staff.JPG|thumb|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  [[Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel|Vallabhbhai Patel]], the [[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, India|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 [[Calcutta]], [[Delhi]] and [[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 [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|for the war]] in [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|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 advised  Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to agree to a ceasefire because "overall military decision was no longer possible".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/08/kashmir-letters-cast-doubt-claims-nehru-blundered-agreeing-ceasefire?|title=Kashmir letters cast doubt on claims Nehru blundered by agreeing ceasefire|newspaper=The Guardian|date=8 March 2023|access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> Bucher in his interview with [[Bal Ram Nanda|B.R. Nanda]] had said that Baldev Singh finally informed him on 31 December to agree with the ceasefire.<ref name="Paul 2019 p472">{{cite web | last=Paul | first=Bikash C. | title=Cobrapost Exclusive: Nehru wanted to attack Pakistan in 1947 after it invaded Kashmir | website=Cobrapost | date=2019-12-14 | url=https://www.cobrapost.com/blog/nehru-wanted-to-attack-pakistan-in-1947/1531}}</ref>

In September 1948, Baldev Singh and his commanders prepared plans for [[Operation Polo]], an operation that annexed the princely state of [[Hyderabad state|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 [[1951–52 Indian general election|1952 elections of India]], Singh was succeeded 
by [[N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar]] as defence minister.<ref name="Kavic 2021 p. 147">{{cite book | last=Kavic | first=L.J. | title=India's Quest for Security: Defence Policies 1947-1965 | publisher=University of California Press | year=2021 | isbn=978-0-520-37041-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0pbpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 | page=147}}</ref>

==Later life==
In 1952, Baldev Singh was elected to the [[Parliament of India]] as a member of the [[Indian National Congress]], in the first democratic elections under the new [[Constitution of India]]. However, he did not join the Nehru administration. Singh remained the major political representative of the [[Sikh]] concerns and was respected by the [[Akali Dal]]. He was re-elected to the Parliament in 1957.

Singh died in [[Delhi]] after a prolonged illness in 1961. 

== Family ==
Singh had 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 (industrialist)|Ravi Inder Singh]] was the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

==See also==
* [[History of the Punjab]]
* [[Indian independence movement]]
* [[Partition of India]]
* [[Shiromani Akali Dal]]
* [[Tara Singh Malhotra]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*https://web.archive.org/web/20051102003148/http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/personalities/sewadars/baldev.html

{{First Indian Cabinet}}
{{Defence Ministers of India}}
{{Sikh politics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Baldev}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1961 deaths]]
[[Category:First Nehru ministry]]
[[Category:Punjabi Sikhs]]
[[Category:Shiromani Akali Dal politicians]]
[[Category:People from British India]]
[[Category:People from Rupnagar]]
[[Category:India MPs 1952–1957]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:India MPs 1957–1962]]
[[Category:Panthic Party politicians]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Ministers of defence of India]]
[[Category:Members of the Cabinet of India]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:People from Hoshiarpur district]]
[[Category:Members of the Council of the Governor General of India]]