It is announced with great sadness that Sardar Kartar Singh Neiyyar, founder member of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, passed away at 6.32pm on Saturday 19^th March 2005.

Kartar Singh Neiyyar was born in VPO Sarih (District Jallandhar) in 1914, orphaned at the age of 6 from whence he had to fend for himself. Despite travelling to many parts of the Indian subcontinent and far north as Kabul, and later to the Far East and the UK, he did not compromise his Sikh Faith, maintaining his Sikhi saroop throughout his life. He did not receive the benefit of school education, but taught himself to read and write Panjabi, Urdu and English.

He moved to Singapore in 1951, from where he migrated to England in 1961, with his family on each occasion joining him soon after.

Initially he settled in Kent, working in the construction industry, but later in 1965 he moved to Hounslow, taking up work within plastic moulding industry, remaining in that employment environment until his retirement age.

Following on from his Panth Sewa in Amritsar and Anandpur Sahib in the 1940’s, in Singapore Gurdwara in the 1950’s, Kartar Singh Neiyyar was destined to continue in this duty in the UK. He soon began to participate in sewa at Singh Sabha Gurdwara Southall, being elected in due course onto the Gurdwara’s Executive Committee. With specific responsibility for Langar, he introduced initiatives helping to remove wasteful practices. He was also enlisted into a small Singh Sabha Gurdwara team tasked to organise a first ever jatha from the UK for a pilgrimage to Hemkunt Sahib in the Himalayan Mountains. This was successfully achieved, with the visit being recognised and commended by the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Amritsar).

With a growing Sikh Community in Hounslow, a group of Hounslow Sikhs, including Kartar Singh Neiyyar, formed Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in 1978 and was selected to be a member of its first ever Executive Committee.

Kartar Singh Neiyyar played a prominent role in identifying and helping to acquire the site on which the present Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha complex stands. He played a leading role in helping to make the site safe and comfortable for Gurdwara congregations’ use. He also helped to refurbish and transform the existing two scout huts into a darbar sahib (prayer hall) and Langar hall. In addition, from 1978 onwards Kartar Singh Neiyyar continued to serve as a member of Gurdwara’s Panj Pyaray (Beloved Five).

During the construction work on Phase 1 (completed in 1992) Kartar Singh Neiyyar was prominent in providing all the necessary support (his experience in construction industry being an asset).

In the 1980’s Kartar Singh Neiyyar took a break from his sewa at Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha to realize his lifetime ambition, to have a book published on Baba Jeevan Singh (Bhai Jaita), a Sikh who had sacrificed his life in supporting the 9^th and 10^th Sikh Guru’s over 300 years ago. To achieve this, Kartar Singh Neiyyar had to visit India for long durations, to travel and research for his project. The dream was realized when in 1985 his book was launched in Amritsar by India’s Central Government Minister.

For the last ten years Sikh Community has rightly seen Kartar Singh Neiyyar as one of the community’s elders, a capacity in which he was introduced to Her Majesty The Queen when she visited the Gurdwara in October 2004.

Following the funeral which took place in Hounslow on Wednesday 30^th March 2005, and in accordance with the wishes of Kartar Singh Neiyyar, the family took his ashes to holy Kiratpur followed by Akhand Paath at family residence in Jallandhar.

Also in keeping with their father’s wishes, the family made generous contributions to Singh Sabha Southall, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha Hounslow and Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Hounslow, the three religious institutions in the UK Kartar Singh Neiyyar had been closely associated with. In India generous contributions were made to Guru Nanak Mission Hospital Trust (Jallandhar) and to two religious institutions in VPO Sarih, the village from where the Neiyyar family have their roots.