Simranjit Singh Mann (born 20 May 1945) is a politician and a former police officer from Punjab. He is the president of the political party, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mann is a two-time MP; once from Taran Tarn in 1989, and then from Sangrur in 1999. He has been arrested or detained some 30 times but he has never been convicted.
Early life
Born at Shimla in 1945, he comes from a military-political background. His father, Lt. Col. Joginder Singh Mann, was a speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1967. He is married to Geetinder Kaur Mann. Mann’s wife and Punjab Former CM Amarinder Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur are sisters.
He was educated at the Bishop Cotton School, Shimla and Government College Chandigarh. He was a gold medalist in the subjects of “History”, “Punjabi”, “Religion” and “Political Science”.
He has one son, Emaan Singh, and two daughters, Pavit Kaur and Nanki Kaur. Some news agencies also spell his son’s name as Imaan Singh Mann.
Indian Police Service
He had appeared for Central Civil Services Examination in 1966, and subsequently joined the Indian Police Service in 1967, and served in the Punjab Cadre of the Service. He served in several positions, including ASP Ludhiana, SSP Ferozepur, SSP Faridkot, AIG GRP Punjab-Patiala division, Deputy Director of Vigilance Bureau Chandigarh, Commandant of Punjab Armed Police and Group Commandant of CISF, Bombay.
He was a very prestigious member of the Indian Police Service, and led the most successful crackdown on drug smugglers from Pakistan. Under him, around 7,403 drug smugglers and goons were caught. He had also criticized CM Darbara Singh for his brutal reactions against the peaceful Dharnas of 1981.
He resigned from Indian Police Service on 18 June 1984 to protest against the Operation Blue Star.
Political career
In 1984, he resigned from his post as Group Commandant of the CISF in Bombay to protest against 1984 anti-Sikh riots and attack on the Harmandir Sahib during Operation Blue Star and was detained.
He was elected in absentia to the Lok Sabha by an overwhelming mandate in the State of Punjab, 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. He described it as such, ‘My beard has been ripped, my jaw has been broken, I have no nails on my toes and I was kept in solitary confinement in Chennai by the Government of India for 5 years. In Bharatpur, I was stripped naked. They gave me electric shocks by putting one terminal on my toe nails and the other on my genitals. At Bhagalpur, they put me in a lunatics’ cell for four days. In Bombay, I was in a cell whose walls were plastered with feces. This would have gone on, if my lawyers, Ram Jethmalani and Dr B.L. Wadhera, were not breathing down their necks.’
He had also stated, “Personally, I am against all types of killings. I oppose all kinds of terrorism, specially state-sponsored terrorism; which can only aggravate a worsening situation.”
In 1990, Mann was denied entry into the Sansad Bhavan (Parliament house) when he insisted on bearing a Kirpan into the session, a religious rite in the Sikh Faith. He subsequently resigned his seat in protest.
The Punjab Police during KPS Gill had killed these Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidates:
- Bimal Kaur Khalsa
- Jagdev Singh Khudian
- Sawinder Kaur
- B.S. Sangha
- Resham Singh Malmori
- Manjit Singh Valtoha
- Karamjit Singh Sodhi
- Balwinder Singh Sangha
On 3 November 1999, after Mann was elected to the Lok Sabha, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the Government of India and the Passport Office in Chandigarh to issue a passport to him.