Amritsar: Veteran Akali leader and former chief secretary of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Manjit Singh Calcutta, who died, was cremated with full state honours.
Calcutta died in a private hospital. He was not keeping well for the past few weeks. Prominent among those who were present at the cremation were Punjab Local Bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP Gurjit Singh Aujla, MLA OP Soni, on behalf of the state government, Jathedar Akal Takhat Giani Gurbachan Singh, SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, SGPC chief secretary Roop Singh.
Calcutta had remained education minister in the Badal government when Panthic Sikh leader and SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra was alive. He joined politics in the year 1955 when he was made the national president of the Sikh student outfit All India Sikh Students Federation.
He also remained secretary of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Calcutta which is now known as Kolkata. Calcutta is survived by his wife Santokh Kaur, son Gurpreet Singh and two daughters, who live in Canada.
