View source for Harkishan Singh Surjeet

{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Harkishan Singh Surjeet 
| image = Surjith-3.JPG
| caption = Surjeet in 2003
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|3|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bundala]], [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|8|1|1916|3|23}}
| death_place = [[Noida]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]]
| office = General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
| term = 1992–2005
| predecessor = [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]]
| successor = [[Prakash Karat]]
| party = [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
}}

'''Harkishan Singh Surjeet''' (23 March 1916 – 1 August 2008) was an Indian [[Communist]] politician from [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], who served as the General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]] from 1992 to 2005 and was a member of the party's Political Bureau from 1964 to 2008.<ref name=Nine>Manini Chatterjee. "[http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080404/jsp/frontpage/story_9094771.jsp Nine to none, founders’ era ends in CPM]". ''[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]''. 3 April 2008.</ref>

==Early life and pre-1947 career==
Harkishan Singh Surjeet was born in 1916 in a [[Sikh]] family in the village of Bundala, Jalandhar district of Punjab.<ref name="IASN_HT_2008"/> He started his political career in the national liberation movement in his early teens, as a follower of the revolutionary socialist [[Bhagat Singh]] and in 1930 joined his [[Naujawan Bharat Sabha]]. In 1936, Surjeet joined the [[Communist Party of India]]. He was a co-founder of the [[All India Kisan Sabha|Kisan Sabha]] (Farmer's Union) in [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]]. In the pre-war years he started publishing ''Dukhi Duniya'' and ''Chingari''. During the War, Surjeet was imprisoned by the colonial authorities. When India became independent and partitioned in 1947, Surjeet was the Secretary of CPI in Punjab. Although he sported a [[Dastar|Sikh turban]], throughout his life, Surjeet remained an [[atheist]].<ref name="IASN_HT_2008">"Surjeet, who always sported a white turban, was also passionately opposed to the Sikh separatist campaign that bled Punjab for a decade until 1993. He led a spartan lifestyle and always wore simple, even crumpled clothes." M.R. Narayan Swamy and Monobina Gupta, Indo-Asian News Service: [https://archive.today/20121209082224/http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=a7cd9552-34ef-42f0-8861-48711969e8ae&ParentID=1e5b1926-3c9b-44c3-99fe-e0863dedc58a&MatchID1=4736&TeamID1=8&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1194&MatchID2=4727&TeamID3=2&TeamID4=3&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1191&PrimaryID=4736&Headline=Harkishan+Singh+Surjeet+-+nationalist+to+Communist+and+then+kingmaker 'Harkishan Singh Surjeet - nationalist to Communist and then kingmaker]', ''Hindustan Times'', 1 August 2008 (accessed 1 August 2008).</ref>

==Role in the Communist Party==
The seven and a half decades-long political life of Harkishan Singh Surjeet began with his staunch fight against British colonial rule. He played a pioneering role in developing the farmer's movement and the Communist Party in Punjab before emerging as a national leader of the Communist Party of India and the All India Kisan Sabha. It culminated with his leading role in the CPI(M) for an eventful four decades.

Surjeet began his revolutionary career influenced by the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh. He hoisted the tricolour in March 1932 at the district court in Hoshiarpur at the age of 16. He was arrested and sent to a reformatory school for juvenile offenders. He came in touch with the early Communist pioneers in Punjab after his release. He joined the Communist Party in 1934 and became a member of the Congress Socialist Party in 1935. He was elected as the secretary of the Punjab State Kisan Sabha in 1938. The same year, he was externed from Punjab and went to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh where he started a monthly paper, `Chingari’. He went underground after the outbreak of the second world war and was arrested in 1940. He was imprisoned in the notorious Lahore Red Fort where he was kept for three months in solitary confinement in terrible conditions. Later he was shifted to Deoli detention camp where he remained till 1944. During the partition, he tirelessly worked for communal harmony in violence-torn Punjab.

Just after independence, Surjeet was forced to go underground for four years. {{cn|date=April 2021}} Several other communist leaders like [[A K Gopalan]] were arrested under the [[preventive detention]] laws. In the 1950s he led the historic anti-betterment levy movement in Punjab in 1959. His work with farmers led to his election as General Secretary and then President of the [[All India Kisan Sabha]]. He also worked in the Agricultural Workers Union. When the [[1964 split in the Communist Party of India|CPI split in 1964]], Surjeet sided with the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]. Surjeet was one of the nine members of the original CPI(M) Polit Bureau.<ref name=Nine/>

==General Secretary==
He continued to rise within the party until he was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPI(M) in 1992, a post he held till 2005, retiring at the age of 89. Surjeet is known for his steadfast opposition to the BJP and communalism. He was instrumental in forming a number of anti-BJP coalitions in the 1990s and for ensuring left support the present UPA government. [http://www.countercurrents.org/ie-surjeet100204.htm] After retiring from his post as General Secretary, Surjeet continued to play an active role in Indian national politics. Many times, including after the 2004 [[Lok Sabha]] election and during the 1996-1998 United Front government, his role has been that of a cunning king-maker in parliamentary politics, mending and assembling broad coalitions.

{{Wikinewspar|Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Indian politician dies at 92}}
With his health declining, Surjeet was, for the first time, not included in the CPI(M) Politburo at the party's 19th congress in early April 2008. He was instead designated as Special Invitee to the Central Committee.<ref name=Nine/> Surjeet died in New Delhi on 1 August 2008 of cardiac arrest. Surjeet, aged 92, had been convalescing at the Metro Hospital in [[Noida]] since 25 July 2008.

===Lok Sabha Election Results under leadership of Surjeet===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;border:1px solid black;background-color:#F4F9FF"
|+ Performance of Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Lok Sabha elections
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|[[Lok Sabha]]
! style="background-color:#98CCFF"|Lok Sabha <br /> constituencies
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|Seats <br /> Contested
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|Won
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|Net Change <br /> in seats
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|Votes
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|Votes %
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|Change in <br /> vote %
! style="background-color:#99CCFF"|Reference
|-
|-
| align=left|[[11th Lok Sabha|Eleventh]], [[1996 Indian general election|1996]]
| 543 || 75 || 32 || {{decrease}} 03 || 20,496,810 || 6.12% || {{decrease}} 0.02%
|<ref name="ECI1996">{{cite web | url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1996/Vol_I_LS_96.pdf | title=LS Statistical Report : 1996 Vol. 1 | work=[[Election Commission of India]] | access-date=18 October 2014 | pages=93}}</ref>
|-
| align=left|[[12th Lok Sabha|Twelfth]], [[1998 Indian general election|1998]]
| 543 || 71 || 32 || {{steady}} 00 || 18,991,867 || 5.16% || {{decrease}} 0.96%
|<ref name="ECI1998">{{cite web | url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1998/Vol_I_LS_98.pdf | title=LS Statistical Report : 1998 Vol. 1 | work=[[Election Commission of India]] | access-date=18 October 2014 | pages=92}}</ref>
|-
| align=left|[[13th Lok Sabha|Thirteenth]], [[1999 Indian general election|1999]]
| 543 || 72 || 33 || {{increase}} 01 || 19,695,767 || 5.40% || {{increase}} 0.24%
|<ref name="ECI1999">{{cite web | url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1999/Vol_I_LS_99.pdf | title=LS Statistical Report : 1999 Vol. 1 | work=[[Election Commission of India]] | access-date=18 October 2014 | pages=92}}</ref>
|-
| align=left|[[14th Lok Sabha|Fourteenth]], [[2004 Indian general election|2004]]
| 543 || 69 || 43 || {{increase}} 10 || 22,070,614 || 5.66% || {{increase}} 0.26%
|<ref name="ECI2004">{{cite web | url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_2004/Vol_I_LS_2004.pdf | title=LS Statistical Report : 2004 Vol. 1 | work=[[Election Commission of India]] | access-date=18 October 2014 | pages=101}}</ref>
|-
|}

==Novel==
A literary work in Punjab titled ''Bhauu'', which has uncanny resemblance to the life of Surjeet was written by Darshan Singh, a close associate of Surjeet. The novel remained unknown till it was printed by the mainstream media.<ref>[http://www.livemint.com/2008/06/03000910/Novel-based-on-the-life-of-CPM.html/ Novel based on the life of CPM’s Surjeet may kick up a storm] Singh, Bajinder Pal, 3 June 2008.</ref> The newspaper article sparked a flurry of coverage and it was then reported by most Indian newspapers.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080604/jsp/nation/story_9362752.jsp |title = Surjeet-Karat spat? It's fiction}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.news24online.com/ViewDetails.aspx?NewsId=3044 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-12-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610133651/http://www.news24online.com/ViewDetails.aspx?NewsID=3044 |archive-date=10 June 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-conciliatory-revolutionary/343533/3 | title=The conciliatory revolutionary - Indian Express}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article877.html=]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Though the author Darshan Singh claimed that the novel was not based on the life of Surjeet, he termed his novel "virtual reality". He did say that "novels have been written about American presidents without naming them". The main character is named Karam Singh Kirti, with Kirti meaning a worker in [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] - a term often used by the left wing in Punjab. The Communist Part of India (Marxist), with which Surjeet was affiliated, was unhappy at the description of Surjeet in the novel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newshopper.sulekha.com/cpi-m-upset-over-fiction-targeting-surjeet_news_916224.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-12-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712173038/http://newshopper.sulekha.com/cpi-m-upset-over-fiction-targeting-surjeet_news_916224.htm |archive-date=12 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Harkishan Singh Surjeet}}
* [http://www.deshsewak.com/index.php?mode=aboutus DeshSewak] A Punjabi newspaper started by Surjeet.

{{Communist Party of India (Marxist)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surjeet, Harkishan Singh}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Indian atheists]]
[[Category:Former Sikhs]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:General Secretaries of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:People from Jalandhar district]]
[[Category:State funerals in India]]