“Dr. Bain’s contributions to the Canadian Sikh community and the world Sikh Diaspora is immeasurable and he leaves behind a legacy unmatched in modern scholarly work, especially the Sikh Encycloped on CD-Rom as well as digital museums of Sikh history,” said LINK editor R. Paul Dhillon, a close friend of Dr. Bains, who last met the late great scholar and activist briefly at his office before Dr. Bains left for his current trip to India. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh said Bains’ demise is a big loss to the Sikh community.
JALANDHAR – Canadian-Sikh community activist and icon Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains, 80, passed away in Ludhiana on Thursday after a brief illness.
Bains, who was visiting India, was admitted at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest around two weeks back.
LINK editor R. Paul Dhillon, who has been a long-time friend of Dr. Bains’ received a missed call from India from Dr. Bains and regrets that he was not able to speak to his friend for the one last time.
“Dr. Bain’s contributions to the Canadian Sikh community and the world Sikh Diaspora is immeasurable and he leaves behind a legacy unmatched in modern scholarly work, especially the Sikh Encycloped on CD-Rom as well as digital museums of Sikh history,” said Dhillon, a close friend of Dr. Bains, who last met the late great scholar and activist briefly at his office before Dr. Bains left for his current trip to India.
“He had ferocious energy and he dedicated the second half of his life to his faith and to his community. He will forever remain a cultural-social icon for his activism work on behalf of youth, fighting social evils like drugs and gangs and prostitution,” said Dhillon, who added that on a personal note he will dearly miss his friend and the enlightening conversations they would have every time he returned to his home in Surrey.
Renowned for producing the first multimedia encyclopaedia on Sikhism in 1996, Bains also set up first multimedia Sikh museum at Khadoor Sahib and made efforts to create awareness on Aids, drugs and environment conservation.
For his services, he was conferred with the ‘Order of British Columbia’, ‘Prime Minister Award’ and ‘Governor General Caring Award’ by the Canadian government, while Akal Takht gave him the title of ‘Sikh Scholar of Computer Age’.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh said Bains’ demise is a big loss to the Sikh community.
In 2014, Dr. Bains made it to the list of the top 100 Sikhs in the world, an honour that gave him immense joy and satisfaction.
Founder and producer of the first of its kind “Encyclopedia of Sikhism” on Multimedia Technology in the world which was released by the then Prime Minister of Canada in the Parliament House on December 11, 1996. Dr Bains is a global record holder for “setting up five Multimedia Sikh Museums” in the world.
Listed on the website as an educationist, his “Nishan-e-Sikhi Project” based at Khadoor Sahib is a silent educational revolution in the region, providing education to thousands of rural students at a very low fees and in a job-oriented manner.
Along with numerous awards for his vast field of works in Punjab and India, he has been honored with the Queen II’s Golden Jubilee Medal by the Government of Canada in the year 2012 and the prestigious Order of British Columbia, Government of British Columbia, Canada, in 2005.
Born and brought up in Punjab, he immigrated to Canada in the year 1990 and has been working to eradicate various social ills in India, Canada, and in African countries as well. In the last few years, he had divided time between India and Canada.
