LEadership
bhai sahib, mohinder singh, obe, ksg
Co-convenor and Co-chair, Peace Charter for Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Bhai Sahib took early retirement in 1989 after working for 27 years as a civil/structural engineer and housing expert in East and Central Africa, to devote the rest of his life to selflessly serving humanity.
Since 1995 he is responsible for the day to day running of probably the biggest Sikh place of worship in Europe where he spends on average some 12 hours a day.
He received in 2010 the official religious title of ‘Bhai Sahib’ from the Sikh fraternity’s apex organisation, in recognition of his work in faith propagation through intra and interfaith fields, coupled with his outstanding contribution towards conservation and restoration of Sikh historical shrines. This is the first time in history that a British Sikh has been conferred this award.
Bhai Sahib is a visionary in the fields of faith propagation, education, intra and interfaith. A recipient of the Juliet Hollister Award from the Temple of Understanding, he is also a Trustee of Religions for Peace International (RfP) and one of its fifty Co-Presidents, as well as President of Religions for Peace UK. Bhai Sahib is a member of the Elijah Board of World’s Religious Leaders (EBWRL), a former member of the Fetzer Institutes’s Advisory Committee (FAC) on Religions and Spiritualities, a member of the European Council of Religious Leaders (ECRL) and member of the Department for International Development’s (DfID’s) Faith Working Group. He is Chair and Trustee of the Museum of World’s Religions (MWR-UK) Working Group, Patron of United Religions Initiative (URI – UK), member of Birmingham Faith Leaders Group (BFLG). Bhai Sahib is also an ambassador for the Globalisation for Common Good Initiative and received its third annual award in 2014.
In 2012 he was made a Papal Knight Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great in recognition of his dedicated work for Roman-Catholic Sikh relations and for his enthusiastic commitment to working for peace among people of all faiths. In 2015 he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his unstinting and inexorable work over forty years to promote peace and coexistence by bringing people of different faiths together to contribute to the common good of humanity.
He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from Birmingham City University in 2002, the University of Birmingham in 2006 and the University of Aston in 2014 for services to religious faith propagation, community service, education and research.