There have been many fire-spitting, moderate and submissive speakers, writers and organizers in the world and all of them have more or less existed in the memory of human beings for their good or bad qualities for pretty long time. Because of their oratorical and pen power many of them don’t mind blackmailing the people for their own benefits. There is no shortage of people who develop the habit of always looking at things from their own point of view with scant respect for the opinion of others and without any concern about the bad effect of their thinking on the society. Also there are many so proud of their intelligence and achievements that they care a fig for the sentiments of others. Seeing a person coming to them for any sort of help or otherwise, they turn their faces away to avoid them. Many of them misuse their relations with powers in position not only to get undue favours for themselves and their children at the cost of others, they even go to the extent of deceiving the innocents because of their beholden position.
There is no dearth of people of all hues. If we take up only those who are well-intentioned, each one of them has his own way of saying and doing things. Here in the case Dr. Kharak Singh I am reminded of Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib’s couplet, “XUM qo hYN dunIAW myN suKnvr (Poet) bhuq ACy, kihqy hYN ik Zwlb kw hY AMdwzy ibAW AOr]” He had his unique way of saying and doing things which always reflected his moderate and positive thinking in his writings and speeches. His thoughts always expressed the thinking of the majority of the well-wishers of Panth. I think Ghalib was describing the thinkers like Dr. Kharak Singh when he said, “dyKnw qkrIr kI lzq ik jo aus ny khw, mYN ny Xh jwnw ik goXw Xh BI myry idl myN hY”[ He, not caring for any pressure always stood his ground to uphold the basics of Sikh sidhant, be it the question of Sikh Rehat Maryada, the role of the Jathedar Shri Akal Takht Sahib in relation to maintaining the dignity of this highly respected Sikh Institution or that of the SGPC. For many years, he was the spirit behind the successful working of Institution of Sikh Studies. He edited its quarterly ‘Abstract of Sikh Studies’ very ably for years together.  It was because of his erudition that he with the help of great Sikh scholars like S. Daljit Singh (retd.) IAS and Professor Dr. Jagjit Singh challenged the anti-Sikh writings of people like WH Macloed  by holding seminars in USA and UK wherefrom these writers intentionally absented themselves although they were invited to attend them. They were afraid of facing such Sikh scholars of great eminence.

Dr. Kharak Singh was a personality of very mild and cooperative nature. He would welcome every body and patiently listen to his views. He was a good host who received every body with smiling face. It was because of his malleable habits that he succeeded not only in running the Institution of Sikh Studies but also established a much needed organization, namely, International Sikh Confederation which now has its branches in all the countries having sizeable population of Sikhs. The idea of this world level institution is to help the Institution of Shri Akal Takht through its Jathedar to take decisions strictly in accordance with the contents of Gurbani and the SGPC in Dharam Parchar work.
It was on the evening of 6th August that this pious soul stopped speaking and left the people wondering, “bwbw bolqy khw gey]dyhI ky sMg rhqy]” It is customary to say on the demise of every person, “gurmuiK jnmu svwir drgh cilAw]scI drgh jwie scw ipVu milAw]” But in his case when the next portion of this shabad, “gurmiK Bojnu Bwau cwau AlilAw]gurmiK inhcl icqu n hlY hilAw]gurmuiK scu Alwau BlI hUM BilAw]gurmuiK sdy jwin Awvn GilAw]” was recited beside his body it was felt that Dr. Kharak Singh was really the store of such qualities the sum total of which earn the epithet of Gurmukh for a person in Sikh Sidhant. May this pious soul rest in peace.

One who would ever continue to feel his absence – Raghbir Singh Dhillon.