Chandigarh: The Jathedar of the Akal Takht – the supreme temporal seat of the Sikh community – Raghbir Singh, has asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to put up the portraits of three Khalistani separatists – Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Gajinder Singh – at the Central Sikh Museum in the Golden Temple complex, Amritsar.
He was addressing a function organised by the SGPC and Dal Khalsa at Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj Baba Gurbaksh Singh near Golden Temple on Saturday, to pay tribute to Gajinder Singh, leader of the group that had hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore in 1981 for the release of militant Sikh preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
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About Gajinder Singh
Gajinder Singh died of a heart attack at the age of 74 in Pakistan on July 3, last. The Government of India had put Gajinder’s name in the list of 20 most wanted terrorists in 2002.
Jathedar Raghbir Singh said that SGPC should display these portraits in view of their ‘sacrifices’. He also honoured the kin of Gajinder Singh on the occasion.
About The Function
The function was attended by the SGPC president, Harjinder Singh Dhami, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Delhi president, Paramjit Singh Sarna, former SAD (Amritsar) MP Simranjit Singh Mann an leaders of several radical Sikh organisations.
For the record, Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) chief Panjwar, one of the India’s most wanted criminals, was shot dead in Lahore on May 6, 2023, while Nijjar, designated a terrorist by the Indian government, was also shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, 2023.
Strain In Ties Between India & Canada After Nijjar's Death
Nijjar’s killing resulted in strained ties between India and Canada, after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the ‘potential’ involvement of Indian agents in Nijjar’s killing.
India refuted the charges, terming them ‘absurd’. Gajinder Singh, spent 14 years in prison in Pakistan for hijacking the Indian Airlines plane for the release of militant leader Bhindranwale, who was eventually slain. He was living in exile after his release from Pakistani jail in 1995.
