Tohra (Patiala)/ Chandigarh, April 1: Thousands of people from all over Punjab today converged on this small village to pay their last respects to Gurcharan Singh Tohra, who died in a Delhi hospital last night.

“He was India’s most secular leader,” cried Mehtab Ali, moulvi of a mosque in the village built by Tohra after the Babri Masjid was demolished in December 1992. “We have lost a father-figure,” he wailed.

Schoolteacher and neighbour Karam Singh said an era had ended in Punjab. “Tohraji’s influence cut across all communities. He was a pillar. All parties, irrespective of different ideologies, used to seek his advice.”

The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee president had moved out of the village years ago and lived in Patiala. Today, his body was placed outside his locked house where a shamiana had been erected.

Chief minister Amarinder Singh paid his respects to Tohra at Sambhu on the Haryana border as the van carrying his body entered the state. The government has announced a two-day state mourning and decided to pay Rs 15,000 a month as pension to his widow, Joginder Kaur.

Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal accompanied the body on the last ride.

Known as a “wily fox”, Tohra was one of the architects of the contentious 1973 Anandpur Sahib Resolution. But in 1978, he forced his colleagues in the Akali Dal, including Badal, to water down the fundamentalist terminology that had the resolution labelled “secessionist”.

Tohra’s role in the terrorism era has been questioned though he denied that he was responsible for Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s emergence and the bloodshed that followed in the state.

He had a long innings as parliamentarian, representing the Akali Dal in the Rajya Sabha for a record six times since 1969. He also had a stint in the Lok Sabha during 1977-79. Tohra was SGPC president for 27 years.