Dewan Bahadur Singha

Dewan Bahadur Satya Prakash Singha (1893–1948) was a politician of colonial India, and later, Pakistan, who served as the Speaker of the British Indian Punjab assembly. He was member of the Punjab Assembly between 1947 and 1948.

Early life and family He was born to a Christian family in Pasrur, Sialkot in 1893 with ancestry of a Bihari grandfather and a Bengali grandmother. His father was a Punjabi and he married a woman from the United Provinces (UP) of British India.

Career He served as registrar in the Punjab University. Due to his efforts matric examination system and intermediate level degrees were introduced to education system in colonial India. In his recognition for his services, he was awarded the distinction of Dewan Bahadur by the British Indian government.

The majority of Indian Christians, represented by the All India Conference of Indian Christians, were allies of the Indian National Congress, and opposed the partition of India. However, Singha was present when the Lahore Resolution was passed in March of 1940, a resolution which called for British-India to be divided into independent states. In 1942, Singha created his own All-Indian Christian Association, and in November that year when the Muslim League held its annual convention in Faisalabad, it assured Jinnah of Indian Christian solidarity in the creation of Pakistan. Soon after this, Singha said in a public statement: "At the time of partition of the sub-continent of India, in the entire country, the Christians should be counted with Muslims." In November of 1946 at another gathering in the Punjab, Singha declared that "Jinnah is our leader", and Jinnah responded by saying: "We will never forget the favours and sacrifices of Christians." In reality, "Christians of the Punjab [were] demographically hamstrung, as regardless what side they wanted to support, they were mainly present in Muslim majority areas." As Speaker of the Punjab Assembly in British India, Singha oversaw a pivotal vote on whether the province's legislators would join the existing Constituent Assembly or a new and separate one. In an unprecedented move, Singha entered the lobby for the first time in the Assembly's history to cast his vote, in favour of a new constituent assembly.

Following the partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Singha was informed that only a Muslim could hold the position of Speaker of the Assembly. A motion of no confidence was subsequently passed, leading to his removal from office. However, despite early hardship and accusations during Partition, West Punjab's 400,000 Christians saw improved conditions under S.P. Singha's leadership, including a 5% quota in provincial services. Still, lacking representation in the Constituent Assembly, they have called for separate electorates until inclusive political alternatives to the Muslim League emerge.

He died in 1948, largely forgotten and in disgrace. A decade later, in 1958, his family—having endured years of marginalisation and humiliation, emigrated to independent India, a stark departure from the inclusive vision Singha had once held for Pakistan.