The imperative need of the hour is to visualize the grave dangers not only to our cherished political and social system, but to the very foundation o… - Zail Singh

During a revolt against the maharaja of Faridkot by setting up a parallel government he was arrested, was tied up and was threatened to be dragged by a jeep through the streets of Faridkot if he did not mend his ways. But peoples' reaction to this action resulted in abandoning the idea.

The June 1984 assault on the Harmandir Sahib complex by government troops, which killed hundreds, put him in a difficult situation with the Sikh community—made worse by the violence against Sikhs that erupted following Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards four months later.

Being able to stand up to injustice throughout once life, in the midst of great social change and upheaval, requires a robust and unconquerable spirit. One president of modern India had such spirit in ample measure. In his life time he challenged feudal princely power and foreign domination, and fought against communalism and social injustice. He was recognized as a learned and aristocratic personality but was also someone who was completely unassuming and a friend of the poor and downtrodden. He successfully combined as all these exceptional qualities