Akal Takht yet again reinforces legitimacy to Sikh struggle by hailing its activists including Gajinder, Nijjer and Panjwar

 

Akal Takht yet again reinforces legitimacy to Sikh struggle by hailing its activists including Gajinder, Nijjer and Panjwar

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Chandigarh: The announcement from Akal Takht to install portraits of Sikh activists Gajinder Singh, Hardeep Singh Nijjer and Paramjit Singh Panjwar in the Central Sikh Museum in Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) has expectedly evoked strong reaction from a section in India. Neither the installation of portraits of Sikh struggle activists at this most sacred shrine is new nor the angry reaction against it.

Jathedar Raghbir Singh, chief of Akal Takht, the supreme Sikh seat articulating transcendental Sikh sovereignty, made this announcement at the bhog ceremony of Gajinder Singh, on July 13 last at Gurdwara Baba Gurbaksh Singh Shaheed, next to Akal Takht. Gajinder Singh,  earlier breathed his last in Lahore in Pakistan where he had been staying for years after his release from jail there.

Such decisions from the highest institutions of the community provide unswerving legitimacy to the Sikh struggle, whatever might be its present form. It is this continuous legitimacy that sustains this narrative.

Gajinder Singh one of the founders of the Dal Khalsa in 1978 and among the five activists of this radical organisations who hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Lahore on September 29, 1981 to demand release of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, among other issues.

This function proposed by the Dal Khalsa was organized by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Gajinder landed in Germany after his release from Lahore jail after completion of his sentence but was not allowed to enter and was deported back to Pakistan where he spent rest of his life. He was at one time one of the 20 most wanted terrorists in the list prepared by India.

Gajinder remained stateless till his death and was conferred the title of ‘Jalawatan Yodha’ (Warrior in Exile) earlier from Akal Takht.

The title would now be bestowed posthumously formally at a ceremony to be held at Akal Takht in the coming days along with some others who are part of the list to be honoured. The Akal Takht Jathedar is learnt to have directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to make the preparations for that function. The announcement to install portraits of the three above mentioned activists was made at this Bhog ceremony. Significantly, representatives from almost all the main Sikh organisations marked their presence on this occasion. Apart from Akal Takht Jathedar, the only other leader to address the gathering was Dal Khalsa senior activist Kanwarpal Singh who had joined this leader and this organisation during his stay in Pakistan.

Portraits of several activists of Sikh struggle of 1980s who were hailed as “martyrs” from Akal Takht including Beant Singh, assassin of prime minister Indira Gandhi, Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha, who gunned down General A. S. Vaidya, army chief during Operation Bluestar, the army invasion of the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in June 1984, adorn the walls of the Central Sikh Museum.

It is the addition to these “heroes” that is important that symbolises yet another reinforcement of the Sikh militant struggle that got triggered with the Sikh-Nirankari clash in Amritsar on the Baisakhi of April 13, 1987 in which eighteen persons, including thirteen Sikh activists from the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and the Damdami Taksal were killed.

The complex has another museum in the basement of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Shaheedi Memorial in which pictures of all the militants were died in the fight with the Indian army during Operation Bluestar have been displayed.

This is part of the Sikh tradition. The museum has pictures of freedom fighters from the Ghadar Party and Babbar Akali also.

The latest decision to honour these three has to be viewed in the present context when the Sikh narrative is impacting India’s geo-political relations.

It may be mentioned that the “Khalistan” narrative hit the international headlines for the first time with the September 29, 1981 hijacking.

“Khalistan men hijack Boeing to Lahore” was the  front page 8-column banner headline in one of the papers published from Chandigarh and notice was taken of this first hijacking associated with the newly triggered Sikh struggle by the global media.

Gajinder was one of those Dal Khalsa activists first hijacking with which the demand for Khalistan received international attention, although the hijacking itself was not for this purpose. These five persons had never boarded an aircraft earlier.

These hijackers were kept in solitary confinement in jail in Pakistan till intervention from Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra who conveyed message to the authorities in Lahore through his associate Manjit Singh Calcutta who had led group of pilgrims of Nankana Sahib. Pakistan had initially suspected the design behind the hijacking.

Gajinder remained stateless and surfaced in Pakistan only about two or three years back when he uploaded his picture of his presence in a gurdwara.

Paramjit Singh Panjwar headed one of the  major militant outfits after Operation Bluestar that was involved in some major actions. He was gunned down in Pakistan.

The third activist to be honoured is Hardeep Singh Nijjer, who headed a gurdwara in Surrey in Canada and was actively involved with the Sikhs for Justice headed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. This outfit has been demanding Khalistan through democratic intervention.

Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau raised accusing finger at India in Nijjer’s killing. This narrative took another turn when USA foiled an attempt allegedly involving people of Indian origin to eliminate Pannun.

What is happening now is part of the continuing narrative. At one time, the impression was that the militant Sikh struggle had been successfully contained with last major action being the killing of chief minister Beant Singh in 1995. Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is in jail in this case, was declared “Zinda Shaheed” from Akal Takht. Gajinder was hailed as ‘Jalawatan Yodha’.

However, the struggle had not petered out but phased out for some time, only to resurface in the countries where the Sikhs are settled sizeable numbers, mainly in USA, Canada and England.

The announcement made by Akal Takht Jathedar has to be seen in this context.

It is the continuous reinforcement of legitimacy to this struggle from the highest Sikh institutions is the most important dimension of this narrative.