Siva Singh arrived in Victoria in 1896 from Qadirabad, Gujrat, Punjab, India. He worked as hawker around the Benalla area in regional Victoria. He hawked goods used by people on farms and in rural towns. By 1915 he owned a total of 422 acres including a 320 acre farm in the Benalla Shire. In December 1920 on his farm Siva Singh conducted the first Akhand Path, which is a continuous cover to cover reading the Sikh holy book, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib. It was read to commemorate Benalla resident Herman Singh who had died that year. He also performed priestly duties for the few Sikhs in the area, and acted as a Granthi and was a leader of the Sikh group. Siva Singh was struck off the electoral roll in 1915 after the White Australia Policy. He fought for his right to be on the electoral roll and although he did not win the case he was re-instated on the roll in 1925 after Sastri had visited Australia and because of his influence on Politicians in Australia and Indian's already living in Australia were again permitted to vote.
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