sikhpride

Kiranjot Kaur, a well known Sikh religious figure, member of SGPC, was born in 1963 at Amritsar in the house of S. Kamaljit Singh and Dr. Rajinder Kaur. Her mother Bibi Rajinder Kaur was also a leading Akali leader of her times and founder President of Istri Akali Dal (unfortunately, she was assassinated). Kiranjot maternal grandfather Master Tara Singh has been one of the greatest leaders of the Sikhs of the last century. She completed her education by obtaining M.Sc. degree (Physics Hons.), from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. As she was brought up in political-religious environment, she started writing for “Sant Sipahi”.She was elected to SGPC in 1996 when an amendment to Sikh Gurdwara Act created mandatory seats for women. Since then she has been the member of SGPC continuously and playing significant role as a member of this Parliament of the Sikhs. During these years, she has held important posts like Member of Advisory Committee to Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib and General Secretary of the SGPC. She is the first woman to hold the post of General Secretary of SGPC and perhaps the only woman with this position so far. She has been elected to Executive Committee several times. She has also been the Member of various committees formed by Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib to debate and decide religious issues vital for the Sikh community. She has co-organized and coordinated Women’s Conference in the Historic Centenaries celebrated by SGPC between years 1999 to 2006. She also organized an introductory meeting of Jew religious leaders and Sikh religious leaders in May 2011 to initiate Interfaith Dialogue between the two communities. The Jew delegation included Chief Rabbi and scholars from Israel. She was invited to Inauguration of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Intercultural and Inter-religious Dialogue ( KAICIID) in Vienna, Austria in November 2012 as representative of the Sikhs. This Centre is a joint venture of Govt. of Austria, Govt. of Saudi Arabia and Govt. of Spain. She was also invited by KAICIID to its Advisory Forum as a member in April 2016 addressed Sikh women in a Gurmat camp in Bhopal in May 2016. She was invited for an Interfaith Conference in Israel by Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Ancient Traditons – Contemporary Realties in September 2016 in Jerusalem. She represented Sikhs in a Symposium on Mercy at the invitation of Vatican Pontifical Interfaith Committee in Rome in November 2016. She is definitely a great inspiring force for the Sikhs in general and Sikh women in particular.