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{{Short description|Indian politician (1899–1976)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Gurmukh Singh Musafir
| native_name =
| office1 = [[Jathedar of the Akal Takht]]
| office2 = 5th [[List of chief ministers of Punjab, India|Chief Minister of Punjab]]
| image = Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir 2001 stamp of India (cropped).jpg
| title =
| predecessor1 = Jawaher Singh Mattu Bhaike
| successor1 = [[Vasakha Singh Dadehar]]
| predecessor2 = [[Ram Kishan]]
| successor2 = [[Gurnam Singh]]
| office3 = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
| constituency3 = [[Amritsar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Amritsar]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
| term_start3 = 1952
| term_end3 = 1966
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 = [[Yagya Dutt Sharma (Punjab politician)|Yagya Dutt Sharma]]
| office4 = [[Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha]]
| constituency4 = [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
| term_start4 = 1968
| term_end4 = 1976<ref>{{cite web | url=https://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/m.pdf| title=Rajya Sabha Members Biographical Sketches 1952 - 2003 | publisher=[[Rajya Sabha]] | access-date=9 April 2019}}</ref>
| birth_name = Gurmukh Singh
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1899|01|15}}
| birth_place = [[Adhwal]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]] present-day Adhwal, [[Rawalpindi Tehsil]], [[Pakistani Punjab]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1976|01|18|1899|01|15}}
| death_place = [[Delhi]], [[India]]
| spouse = Ranjit Kaur
| relations =
| children =
| term_start1 = 1930
| term_end1 = 1931
| term_start2 = 11 November 1966
| term_end2 = 8 March 1967
| party = [[Indian National Congress]], [[Shiromani Akali Dal]]
| mother =
| father =
| known_for =
| source = https://loksabha.nic.in/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/877.htm
| honorific_prefix = [[Gyani|Giani]]
}}
{{Sikhism sidebar}}

'''Gurmukh Singh Musafir''' (15 January 1899 – 18 January 1976) was an [[politics of India|Indian politician]] and [[Punjabi language]] writer. He was the 5th Chief Minister of [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] from 1 November 1966 to 8 March 1967.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://punjabassembly.nic.in/members/showcm.asp |title=Archived copy |access-date=21 December 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213075808/http://punjabassembly.nic.in/members/showcm.asp |archive-date=13 February 2007 }}</ref>
[[File:Chief minister of Punjab Partap Singh Kairon, Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and leader of freedom struggle Govind Ballabh Pant and Gurmukh Singh Musafir, at Amritsar Airport.jpg|thumb|Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir (left) with [[Govind Ballabh Pant]], [[Abul Kalam Azad]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and [[Partap Singh Kairon]] on 6 February 1956.]]

He was awarded the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in Punjabi, given by [[Sahitya Akademi]], India's National Academy of Letters in 1978 for his short story collection, ''Urvar Par''<ref>[http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/SearchAwards.do Official list of Awardees]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} [[Sahitya Akademi]] website.</ref> and was posthumously decorated with [[Padma Vibhushan]], the second highest Indian civilian award given by [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Padma Awards Directory (1954–2007) |publisher=[[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]] |date=30 May 2007 |url=http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/PadmaAwards1954-2007.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410024701/http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/PadmaAwards1954-2007.pdf |archive-date=10 April 2009 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Musafir was born on 15 January 1899 at [[Adhwal]], in [[Campbellpore]] (now called [[Attock]] district of Punjab province in British India (presently [[Rawalpindi District]] of [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab Province]] in Pakistan) - in a small land-holding farming family of [[Khatri]] of [[Chadha clan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Khushwant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1j-Yc0x9BcC&dq=chaddha+khatris&pg=PA302 |title=Sikhoṃ kā itihāsa |date=2011 |publisher=Kitabghar Prakashan |isbn=978-81-908204-4-8 |language=hi}}</ref>

He completed primary education from the village primary school and then went to [[Rawalpindi]] to pass the middle school examination. In 1918, he became a teacher at Khalsa High School, Kallar. His four years there as a teacher earned him the epithet [[Giani]], '''Musafir''' being the pseudonym he had adopted. In 1922, he gave up teaching and joined the Akali agitation for Gurudwara reform. For taking part in the Guru ka Bagh agitation in 1922, he underwent imprisonment.

He was appointed to the highest religious office of Sikhism [[Jathedar]] of the [[Akal Takht]] from 12 March 1930 to 5 March 1931.<ref name=t>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060420/aplus.htm#1|title=A Giani, a Gurmukh and a Musafir|author=Walia, Varinder|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|date=20 April 2006|access-date=14 June 2009}}</ref>

==Political career==

[[File:Gurmukh Singh Musafir. 1899-1976. c 1970.jpg|200px]]

Musafir joined the freedom movement in the early 1920s and courted arrest several times till 1947. He courted arrest in the [[Civil disobedience]] movement in 1930. He became the head of [[Akal Takht]], central seat of religious authority for the [[Sikhism|Sikh]]s. He held this office from 12 March 1930 to 5 March 1931. He also served for a time as secretary of the [[Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee]] as well as general secretary of the [[Shiromani Akali Dal]]. He also courted arrest as part of [[Satyagraha]] and [[Quit India]] movements.

In 1949, he became the President of the [[Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee]]. He held the office of the President for 12 years and was also an elected member of the [[Congress Working Committee]]. He was elected to the [[Lok Sabha]] in 1952, 1957 and 1962, representing [[Amritsar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Amritsar constituency]]. In 1966, he resigned from the Lok Sabha and became the [[List of Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)|Chief Minister of Punjab]] state after its re-organization. In 1967, he contested the [[Vidhan Sabha]] election from Amritsar constituency, but he was defeated by [[Satyapal Dang]] of the [[Communist Party of India]].<ref name=t/> He was the member of the [[Rajya Sabha]] from 1968 to 1974.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081225/edit.htm#6|title=Musafir: Politician on wings of poesy|author=Singh, Roopinder|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|date=25 December 2008|access-date=14 June 2009}}</ref> Musafir died in Delhi on 18 January 1976.<ref name=t/> He was posthumously awarded [[Padma Vibhushan]] in 1976.

Musafir was a member of the Indian delegations to the International Peace Conference in Stockholm in 1954, [[World Peace Council|World Peace Conference]] in Helsinki in 1965, and the [[World Peace Council|World Peace Conference]] in Berlin in 1969. He also led the Indian delegations to the World Progressive Writers Conference in Japan in 1961 and the Indian Writers Afro-Asian Conference in [[Baku]] in 1965.

== Role in Constituent Assembly of India ==

Source:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cadindia.clpr.org.in/|title=CADIndia|website=cadindia.clpr.org.in|access-date=12 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329161051/http://cadindia.clpr.org.in/|archive-date=29 March 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Musafir<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cadindia.clpr.org.in/constituent_assembly_members/giani_gurmukh_singh_musafir|title=CADIndia|website=cadindia.clpr.org.in|access-date=12 March 2018}}</ref> was elected to the Constituent Assembly from Congress Party. In the Constituent Assembly he spoke<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cadindia.clpr.org.in/search|title=CADIndia|website=cadindia.clpr.org.in|access-date=12 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425030845/https://cadindia.clpr.org.in/search|archive-date=25 April 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> on the issues of citizenship<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cadindia.clpr.org.in/search?tag%5Bspeaker%5D%5B%5D=Giani+Gurmukh+Singh+Musafir&keyword%5B%5D=citizenship&document_type%5B%5D=1&document_type%5B%5D=0&sort_by=Relevant+Day&filter_tag%5Bspeaker%5D%5B%5D=90&date_of_debate=|title=CADIndia|website=cadindia.clpr.org.in|access-date=12 March 2018}}</ref> and separate electorates.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cadindia.clpr.org.in/search?tag%5Bspeaker%5D%5B%5D=Giani+Gurmukh+Singh+Musafir&keyword%5B%5D=separate+electorates&document_type%5B%5D=1&document_type%5B%5D=0&sort_by=Relevant+Day&filter_tag%5Bspeaker%5D%5B%5D=90&date_of_debate=|title=CADIndia|website=cadindia.clpr.org.in|access-date=12 March 2018}}</ref>

==Offices held==
*Member of A.I.C.C, since 1930
*Member of Constituent Assembly – 1946–52
*Member of Lok Sabha – 1952–57, 1957–62, 1962–66
*President, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee- 1947–59
*Member, Working Committee A.I.C.C – 1952–57
*Member, Executive Committee of the Congress Party in Parliament – 1952–1966
*Member [[Jallianwala Bagh]] Memorial Committee since its inception
*Chairman Reception Committee, Sixty- first session of the Indian National Congress held at Amritsar in 1956
*Member, Legislative Council Punjab – 1966–68
*Chief Minister, Punjab – 1966–67
*[[Rajya Sabha]] member in April 1968 and April 1974

==Writer and poet==
Musafir was also a poet and writer. His writings became profile following the massacre of [[Jallianwala Bagh]] when he wrote about the Indian National struggle. While he is more famous for being a politician, noted Punjabi critics like Kartar Singh Duggal, Raghbir Singh Sirjana and Gurbhajan Gill have all spoken about Musafir's contribution to Punjabi literature, particularly his work during the freedom struggle.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bharti |first1=Vishav |title=Politician at work, storyteller at heart |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/features/poles-apart-politically-master-tara-singh-and-giani-gurmukh-singh-musafir-started-their-literary-careers-during-the-akali-movement-in-the-1920s-804038 |access-date=24 May 2020 |work=The Tribune |date=21 July 2019}}</ref>

His published works include nine collections of poems (Sabar De Bann, Prem Ban, Jivan Pandh, Musdfaridn, Tutte Khambh, Kadve Sunehe, Sahaj Sumel, Vakkhrd Vakkhrd Katrd Katrd and Duur Nerhe); eight of short stories (Vakkhn Duma, Ahlane de Bot, Kandhdn Bol Paidn; Satdl Janvari; Allah Vale, Gutdr, Sabh Achchhd, and Sastd Tamdshd); and four biographical works (Vekhya Sunya Gandhi, Vekhya Sunya Nehru, BaghlJamail and Vehvin Sadi de Shahid). He represented Indian writers at international conferences at Stockholm in 1954, and at Tokyo in 1961.

He recorded the reminiscences of his association with [[Mohandas Gandhi]] and [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] in two separate volumes – ''Vekhya Sunya Gandhi'' (Gandhi as I knew him), "Vekhya Sunya Nehru" (Nehru as I knew him). His book ''Martyrs of 20th Century'' is the result of 30 years of research. Most of his poetry and short stories were written while in jail. He also translated ''Gandhi Gita'' and [[James Allen (author)|James Allen]]'s ''Byways of Blessedness'' titled ''Anand Marg''.

== Death ==
On 17 January 1976, Giani Gurmukh Singh experienced a massive heart-attack after dining with his friends in the house of [[Sir Sobha Singh]] in [[New Delhi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Duggal |first=Kartar Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyQ2AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Sir+Sobha+Singh's+place%22 |title=Giani Gurmukh Singh 'Musafir' |date=1999 |publisher=National Book Trust, India |isbn=978-81-237-2765-3 |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Kartar Singh Duggal|Duggal, Kartar Singh]] (1999). ''Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir'', New Delhi: National Book Trust, {{ISBN|81-237-2765-8}}.

==External links==
* [http://www.gurmukhsinghmusafir.com Website about Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir]
* [https://openlibrary.org/b/OL164260M/Giani-Gurmukh-Singh-%27Musafir%27 Giani Gurmukh Singh Musafir]
*[https://loksabha.nic.in/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/877.htm Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website]
{{Chief Ministers of Punjab (India)}}
{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussafir, Giani Gurmukh Singh Mussafir}}
[[Category:Chief ministers of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:India MPs 1952–1957]]
[[Category:India MPs 1957–1962]]
[[Category:India MPs 1962–1967]]
[[Category:Shiromani Akali Dal politicians]]
[[Category:Punjab, India MLAs 1962–1967]]
[[Category:Punjabi-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian male short story writers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Punjabi]]
[[Category:Members of the Constituent Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Chief ministers from Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Jathedars of Akal Takht]]
[[Category:People from Attock District]]
[[Category:Politicians from Punjab, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Politicians from Amritsar district]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India]]

Gurmukh Singh Musafir - Revision history

Siddharth Darnal at 11:24, 4 April 2026