Turbaned Tornado is no more’: Fauja Singh died at a private hospital after a road accident in Jalandhar district on Monday evening.
Fauja Singh, the a legendary marathon runner from Punjab and the UK, died at a private hospital in Jalandhar on Monday evening.
He was reportedly hit by an unidentified vehicle around 3.30 in the afternoon when he was crossing the road in his village Beas.
“My Turbaned Tornado is no more,” Chandigarh-based author Khushwant Singh posted on Facebook, referring to the title of Fauja Singh’s biography that he wrote.
“It is heartbreaking to learn that he lost his life today in a tragic road accident,” Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria said.
Started running marathons at 89
Fauja Singh said he was born on April 1, 1911. He could not walk until he was five years old, his biography noted. He grew up to become an amateur runner but Partition of India disrupted his life much as it did for lakhs of others in the region.
After a number of his family members died in accidents and otherwise, he returned to running as means to overcome depression. Having migrated to England in the 1990s to live with one of his sons, at 89 years of age, he seriously returned to running and competed in age-group international marathons.
Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, jathedar (chief) of the Sikh temopral seat Akal Takht, mourned the demise: “Sardar Fauja Singh was a vibrant and spirited Sikh who brought global recognition and honor to the Sikh identity and the turban”.
“Sardar Fauja Singh always walked forward in life following the teachings of Gurbani: ‘Look ahead; don’t turn your face backwards…’” Every youngster in Punjab should draw lessons from his life, he added.