Some of the great Sikhs of the post independence period in the 20th century include Master Tara Singh, Sant Fateh Singh, Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Yogi Harbhajan Singh and Giani Zail Singh. Whereas Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh influenced the Sikh politics up to the formation of Punjabi Suba in 1966, Dr. Inderjeet Singh played a significant role in raising the status of Punjab & Sind Bank and consequently that of Sikhs. He gave employment to such a big numbers of Sikhs that till today the bank is having majority of the senior officers as Sikhs. Even after his death, when the entire banking system including Punjab & Sind Bank went under the control of Central Government, a number of senior officers from Punjab & Sind Bank had to be given the position of the Chairman in other banks.
At one point of time a number of Banks were headed by the Sikhs from Punjab & Sind Bank. Giani Zail Singh was another Sikh politician who brought a feeling of pride among the Sikhs when he became the first and the only Sikh President of India till today. Yogi Harbhajan Singh, on reaching USA, started teaching Yoga to those Hippies and others such people who were wasting their life with drugs and useless activities. It was through this Yoga teaching that he converted a number of them to Sikhism. An elaborate discussion on this aspect will be given while dealing with that category of role-models who were converted Sikhs following Yogi Harbhajan Singh. Before the turn of century some tragic events like attack on Sri Harimandar Sahib, riots against the Sikhs in October-November 1984 and a long period of terrorism in Punjab affected the Sikhs considerably. A large number of them started moving to foreign countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, England and other countries of Europe. They worked so hard in those countries that they started figuring prominently in various fields of life. Thus, when the new century commenced in India also, a Sikh Dr. Manmohan Singh being the Prime Minister and other Sikhs again started shining in different spheres. The story of their achievements in the 21st Century has started finding expressions in the media, be it print media, electronic or the social media. The only unfortunate thing which is hindering the progress of the Sikhs to emerge as powerful leaders is the domination of our political, social and religious scenes by the orthodox and corrupt leadership which need to be replaced by the young honest, intellectual, liberal minded leadership who can really appreciate the Panthik problems in the true spirit and light of Gurbani.
