Jagdish Tytler (b. January 11, 1944) is a controversial Indian politician, several times a Union Minister, he belongs to the ruling Indian National Congress party. He was the Indian Union Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs, a position he resigned from after an official commission of inquiry noted the 'balance of probability' indicated he was responsible for inciting and leading murderous mobs against the Sikh community in Delhi during the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, a charge he denies. Tytler was born in Gujranwala (now in Pakistan). He was born to a Sikh mother, Dayal Kaur.[citation needed] His Hindu father (Kapoor) had passed away when he was a year old. Though he was raised by his mother, he had a mentor, missionary and educationalist Rev. James Douglas Tytler who was a mentor and father-figure to him. Out of respect, Tytler took on his name, though continued to take on the Sikh traditions of his mother, even getting married by a Granthi in a Gurudwara by Sikh rites. The Sikh traditions have always remained close to his heart and a part of his life in reverence to his late Mother, Dayal.[citation needed] Active in the Congress' youth organisation and a disciple of Sanjay Gandhi, he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. He served as a Union Minister first in the Civil Aviation department and then in the Labor department. He was re-elected in 1991 and served as the Union Minister of State for Surface Transport. In 2004, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha.
