KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
04-Aug-1982
Dharam Yudh Morcha (Agitation for Religion), a movement by Shiromani Akali Dal (L), starts in Amritsar. Prakash Singh Badal leads the first jatha of 1,054 volunteers to court arrest at Manji Sahib in Amritsar.
26-Jul-1982
At the All World Sikh Convention organized by Akali Dal High Command, Harchand Singh Longowal is authorised to launch “Dharam Yudh Morcha” – a civil disobedience movement, from August 1982. He is also asked to shift the “Nehar Roko Morcha” to Amritsar.
22-Jul-1982
Punjab Chief Minister Darbara Singh escapes an assassination attempt.
19-Jul-1982
AISSF President Amrik Singh arrested in connection with the attempt on the life of Joginder Singh Sant Nirankari.
19-Jul-1982
Two associates of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Baba Thara Singh and Baba Ram Singh arrested. Bhindranwale announces a morcha before Amritsar’s DC Office in protest. .
02-May-1982
National Council of Khalistan and Dal Khalsa banned by the Central Government.
26-Apr-1982
Violence erupts after Dal Khalsa members throw two severed heads of cows near temples at Katra Ahluwalia and Bazaar Kathian in Amritsar. One man killed, several injured, and a few shops were shops were burnt. More than 350 people arrested over a period of two days, and curfew imposed in Amritsar and Patiala.
24-Apr-1982
Akali Dal launches a “Nehar Roko Morcha” to obstruct the digging of Sutlej -Yamuna Link canal.
08-Apr-1982
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi inaugurates the foundation stone of the “Sutlej -Yamuna Link Canal” at Kapuri in Patiala.
17-Mar-1982
Dal Khalsa leader Jathedar Jaswant Singh says his organization believed in direct confrontation and warned that if Hindus demolish Gurdwaras and throw cigarettes there, Sikhs would throw beef in temples.
22-Dec-1981
Jathedar Santokh Singh, leader of Akali Dal (Tara Singh) and President of Delhi Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, shot dead by terrorists in a West Delhi colony..
19-Nov-1981
Police Inspector Pritam Singh Bajwa, Head Constable Ujjagar Singh, and Constables Kesar and Surat Singh killed in an encounter in Daheru village in Ludhiana district. The police team was conducting a search operation to arrest Tarsem Singh Kalasinghian, who escaped with all the militants hiding in the house of Amarjit Singh Nihang..
09-Nov-1981
Three followers of Bhindranwale die while assembling bombs at Gurudwara Gurdarshan Prakash Mehta Chowk.
18-Oct-1981
Akali Dal presents its 15 point demands.
15-Oct-1981
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is released from detention after India’s Home Minister, Giani Zail Singh tells Parliament that the courts lacked evidence against him.
20-Sep-1981
Minority communities attacked in Jalandhar and Tarn Taran.
20-Sep-1981
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale arrested in Chowk Mehta in Amritsar. Seventeen Damdami Taksal supporters killed when they attack the police team. Several followers of Bhindranwale and Shiromani Akali Dal arrested for inciting communal violence at various places in the state.
16-Sep-1981
Confrontation between police and Khalsa College students in Amritsar.
13-Sep-1981
A team of Punjab Police sent to arrest Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale attacked and fired at by his followers at Chando Kalan in Haryana.
09-Sep-1981
The chief editor of Hind Samachar, Lala Jagat Narain shot dead near Ladowal village in Ludhiana. A strong critic of the Khalistan movement, he had survived an earlier assassination attempt in January 1981.
27-Aug-1981
During the visitors’ gathering session at Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Dal Khalsa activists headed by Satnam Singh raise pro-Khalistan slogans.
15-Aug-1981
Around 20 Dal Khalsa volunteers hoist a “Nishan Kesari” flag at Sector 22-D Gurudwara and Manji Sahib in Amritsar, and subsequently in Ludhiana and Jalandhar, where they also raise pro-Khalistan slogans. .
26-Jul-1981
During the World Sikh Convention in Amritsar, Gajinder Singh, a Panch of Dal Khalsa and his associates distribute pro-Khalistan literature.
12-Jul-1981
The working committee of AISSF expresses resentment over anti-Sikh articles published in the Jalandhar based vernacular papers, especially one belonging to Lala Jagat Narain. Narain asked to apologize by August 22 or face dire consequences..
23-May-1981
SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra demands holy status for Amritsar and the closure of all tobacco, cigarette and liquor shops in the city.