Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh died at the age of 92. Singh was one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers and he was considered the architect of key liberalizing economic reforms, as premier from 2004-2014 and before that as finance minister.
During the prayer vigil, George Abraham, Vice-Chair of the IOCUSA, spoke about his humanity and how his personal attributes have influenced a nation. “He was a man of humility despite his long resume and outstanding accomplishments at the behest of the ordinary people with whom he identified himself. He conducted himself with the highest level of integrity and honesty that was a hallmark of his life as well,” added Mr. Abraham
Mohinder Singh Gilzian, President of IOCUSA, spoke glowingly of Dr. Singh’s dedication to the Progress and welfare of the nation. He added, “His leadership shaped India into a global powerhouse, and his contributions to the welfare of the people will never be forgotten. His legacy of inclusive growth, bold economic reforms, and his commitment to the constitution and its values will forever remain an inspiration for all of us”, Mr. Glzian added.
Joshua Jaysingh, Treasurer of IOCUSA, lauded his leadership, which will continue to be a beacon of hope for marginalized and minority communities, reflecting his unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and inclusive growth.
Leela Maret, a senior leader of IOCUSA remembered Dr. Singh’s unwavering dedication to public service and added that he will be greatly missed.
Balbeer Singh Pahwa, the President of the Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar at Hicksville emceed the event. “Manmohan ji has brought India from the brink of bankruptcy with the country’s foreign currency reserves at a dangerously low level, barely enough to pay for two weeks of imports. He made bold measures to change the nation’s trajectory, and his name in the history book will be written in golden letters,” Mr. Pahwa said.
Several leaders of the IOCUSA and the community spoke, including Dave Randhawa, Leela Maret, Amer Singh Gulshan, Sharat Chandra Vemuganti, and Sukhjinder Singh Badesha.
Singh was the first Indian leader since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after serving a full first term, and the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post. Singh was born on 26 September 1932, in a desolate village in the Punjab province of undivided India, which lacked both water and electricity.
After attending Panjab University he took a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge and then a DPhil at Oxford.
Singh rose to political prominence as India’s finance minister in 1991, taking over as the country was plunging into bankruptcy.
His unexpected appointment capped a long and illustrious career as an academic and civil servant – he served as an economic adviser to the government, and became the governor of India’s central bank.
In his maiden speech as finance minister he famously quoted Victor Hugo, saying that “no power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come”.
That served as a launchpad for an ambitious and unprecedented economic reform programme: he cut taxes, devalued the rupee, privatised state-run companies and encouraged foreign investment.
The economy revived, industry picked up, inflation was checked and growth rates remained consistently high in the 1990s.
The biggest triumph during his first five-year term was to bring India out of nuclear isolation by signing a landmark deal securing access to American nuclear technology. A consensus builder, Singh presided over a coalition of sometimes difficult, assertive and potentially unruly regional coalition allies and supporters.
Singh adopted the pragmatic foreign policies pursued by his two predecessors.A studious former academic and bureaucrat, he was known for being self-effacing and always kept a low profile.
History will remember Singh for bringing India out of economic and nuclear isolation, although some historians may suggest he should have retired earlier.
“I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the opposition parties in parliament,” he told an interviewer in 2014.