Hans Raj Hansਹੰਸ ਰਾਜ ਹੰਸ

Early life

Hans Raj Hans was born on 9 April 1962 in the village of Shafipur near Jalandhar, Punjab, into a Mazhabi Sikh family of farmers. The village is home to the dargah of the Sufi saint Shafi Mohammed, and young Hans grew up hearing farmers sing Sufi folk songs in the fields. A street singer named Sitara Singh, who sang devotional songs near his house every morning, became his first inspiration. In his teens he trained in Sufi singing under Ustad Puran Shah Koti — the guru who, it is said, gave him the name 'Hans'.

Music career

Hans began with Punjabi folk, devotional and Sufi music, winning university singing awards three years running while studying at DAV College, Jalandhar. He became a trendsetter in Sufiana kalam, releasing some fifteen albums including favorites like 'Jogian De Kana Vich' and 'Kook Papiye Wali'. He was the first singer invited to perform in Pakistan after the thaw in cultural ties, where he was felicitated at Gaddafi Stadium by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

He worked alongside Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the Bollywood film Kachche Dhaage, served as an honorary music professor at universities in Washington DC and San Jose, and was appointed a judge at the Asia Song Contest in the UK for three consecutive years. In 2008 he received the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honor, for his contribution to the arts.

Politics

Hans entered electoral politics with the Shiromani Akali Dal, later moved to the Congress, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2016. In the 2019 general election he won the North-West Delhi Lok Sabha seat and served as a Member of Parliament from 23 May 2019 to 4 June 2024.

Personal life

He is the father of Navraj Hans and Yuvraj Hans, both singers who have followed him into Punjabi music. In 2014, media reports claimed he had converted to Islam during a visit to Pakistan; Hans publicly denied the claim.

Legacy

Few artists have carried Sufi music from Punjab's village dargahs to Parliament. Hans Raj Hans's long curly hair, classical improvisations and devotion to the kalam made him the most recognizable Sufi voice of his generation — and his Padma Shri recognized a lifetime spent keeping the tradition alive.