Sant Singh Maskeen

Maskeen Ji was born in 1934 at Lakki Marwat (now in Pakistan) to father Kartar Singh and mother Ram Kaur. In 1958 he was married to Sunder Kaur. He had three sons and two daughters. He pursued his primary education from Khalsa School (now in Pakistan) and then went to Government High School. Soon, around the age of 12, he experienced the turmoil of Partition in 1947, due to which, his family migrated to India and settled in Alwar (Rajasthan). Here, he could not continue his studies due to the language barrier because his education back in Pakistan was in Urdu and Persian. Due to poor living conditions at home, he then started looking for jobs. He worked in a factory for about three months.[1]

He authored more than a dozen books, including Guru Chintan, Ras Dhara, Jiwan Jhalkian, Aise Jan Virle Sansare, Brahm Gyan, Gyan Da Saagar, Amrit Manthan, Ratnagar and Shabad Guru.

He was given the title of Panth Ratan, the highest honour awarded by one of the Takhts to an individual for their exceptional services to the Sikh cause and mankind through the message of Gurbani. He was also given Bhai Gurdas Gold posthumous award, worth rupees one lakh and, posthumously, the Gurmat Vidya Martand award by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Maskeen Ji died on 18 February 2005 due to a heart attack while attending a marriage in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, India.