Jathedar Akal Takht the highest Sikh temporal seat, Gyani Raghbir Singh has asked the Shiromnai Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC) to install the portraits of top terrorists in the museum of Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex..
Asking the SGPC to install the portrait of three terrorists while describing them martyrs of Sikh community due to their contribution towards the community as they fought long battle against the wrong policies of the Indian Governments.
The three names which were raised by the Jatehdar Akal Takht were Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Gajinder Singh at the Central Sikh Museum in the Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex.
Jatehdar said the SGPC should display the portraits of the trio in view of their sacrifices and contribution towards the Sikh community.
However, Gajinder Singh, who in the year of 1981 had led the group of hijackers that hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore in 1981 to get the release of several Sikh leaders. He passed away recently in Lahore on July 3 this year.
Dal Khalsa founder and patron Gajinder Singh Khalsa reportedly died of a heart attack in the hospital of Pakistan at the age of 74. He was one of the five men who hijacked the Indian Airlines flight IC-423 which took off from Delhi’s Palam airport for Srinagar on September 29, 1981. Hijacked Indian Airlines flight, with 111 passengers and 6 crew members on board, forced the plane to land in Lahore to seek the release of several Khalistani extremists, including Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was arrested and underwent imprisonment from September 30, 1981, to October 31, 1994, as part of their life sentence by a court in Pakistan.
The Central government had put Gajinder Singh’s name on the list of 20 “most wanted” in January 2002 and sought his extradition from Pakistan.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was supporting Khalistan moment while sitting in Canada used to speak against the Indian Government was killed in Canada on 18 June 2023. Born in India, Nijjar migrated to Canada in the mid-1990s. Sikh outfits viewed Nijjar as a human rights activist, whereas the Indian Government accusing him of being a criminal and terrorist affiliated with the militant outfit “Khalisthan Tiger Force”.
The third one Paramjit Singh Panjwar (63) wanted Khalistani activist was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while he was out for a morning walk on Saturday near his residence in Lahore, the provincial capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. He was heading the Khalistan Commando Force-Panjwar group and was designated as a terrorist by India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020.
Panjwar joined the KCF in 1986. He later headed this outfit and crossed over to Pakistan. Before escaping to Pakistan in 1995-96, Panjwar was involved in a number of killings in Punjab, according to official sources.
Panjwar had been operating from Lahore and was involved in arranging arms training for youths in Pakistan. He was engaged in supplying arms and ammunition and subsequent infiltration into India for targeting VIPs and economic installations.
He was also involved in broadcasting highly seditious and separatist programmes on Radio Pakistan, intended to incite minorities against the Indian government. He was active in the smuggling of drugs and was a major conduit between smugglers and terrorists, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs had said in a notification that designated him a terrorist under UAPA.
