KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
09-Jun-2021
Government of India justified its request to Twitter to de-platform Jazzy B from Twitter, saying the rapper was glorifying Khalistan and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the secessionist leader. The government asserted that this handle was being used to post inflammatory posts provoking communal sentiments by glorifying Sikh militancy in Punjab and pro-Khalistan feelings on the anniversary of Operation Blue Star. His posts allegedly also used the images of Bhindrawale, who was about to declare the formation of Khalistan when he was killed in Operation Bluestar, to arouse communal sentiments that could pose threat to public order, government sources said.
09-Jun-2021
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has made it clear that, investigating a drugs case, end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp chats can be dug into and analysed by government agencies with the help of forensic specialists.
09-Jun-2021
Punjab’s most-wanted gangster and drug smuggling kingpin Jaipal Singh Bhullar and his accomplice were killed by Bengal police in a Kolkata flat in West Bengal on June 9, 25 days after the gang murdered two ASIs of Ludhiana rural police at the Jagraon grain market.
08-Jun-2021
Police arrested a woman drug peddler, identified as Kulwinder Kaur and recovered 40 gm of heroin from her procession near Phagwara road, Mahilpur in Hoshiarpur district.
08-Jun-2021
Hajipur Police arrested a man, identified as Rahul and recovered 28 gm of intoxicating powder from him in Jhading village in Hoshiarpur district.
08-Jun-2021
Khalsa Aid CEO Ravinder Singh slammed former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh for apologising over his controversial tribute to Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and took a dig at the Members of Parliament. Harbhajan Singh faced flak after he shared a poster of Bhindranwale and others killed inside the Golden Temple during 1984 Operation Blue Star, following which he issued an apology, claiming that it was a 'WhatsApp forward' and that he had posted it on social media in a haste.
08-Jun-2021
Backing Harbhajan Singh's post, the Khalsa Aid CEO asked how many times had 'trolls' tweeted against 'criminals' in the Indian Parliament. Ravinder Singh asked Harbhajan Singh to not apologise for 'his history' and claimed that there was an attempt to silence them after attacking the community.
07-Jun-2021
Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh, in an apology and clarification note on Twitter, wrote, “I am a Sikh who will fight for India and not against India. This is my unconditional apology for hurting the sentiments of my Nation. In fact, any anti-national group against my people I do not support and never will."
06-Jun-2021
Harbhajan Singh posted a story on his official Instagram handle supporting the Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Posted on the 37th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, his post begins with the caption 'Salute to the martyrs'. The text in the image written in Punjabi reads, "Heartfelt tribute to those martyred in Operation inside Shri Harmandir Sahib on June 1- June 6, 1984". While Singh did not explicitly name Bhindranwale, his photo is featured prominently in the former's Instagram story.
06-Jun-2021
Twitter blocked access to four more accounts in India, including that of Indo-Canadian pop singer Jaswinder Singh Bains or JazzyB based on a request made by the government of India, under the Information Technology (IT) Act, the micro-blogging disclosed on Lumen Database. However, Twitter did not disclose as to why the access to these accounts were blocked in India.
06-Jun-2021
Various Sikh organisations observed the anniversary of the 1984 Operation Bluestar in Jalandhar. Several speakers shared their views on the need for equality among minorities and also spoke about the historical importance of the day and the lives lost to operation. Key speakers on the occasion were Ambedakar Sena president Harbhajan Suman, Imam of the Jama Masjid Phagwara Owais-Ur-Rahman, Muslim leader Ghulam Sabba and historian and speaker on the incidents of June 1984 Alliance for Sikhs Coordinator Parmapal Singh Sabhran.
06-Jun-2021
Flags, posters and placards of pro-Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale were seen during an event inside Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar in Punjab as the nation marked the 37th anniversary of the 1984 Operation Blue star. News reports shared several pictures where hundreds of people, who had gathered inside the Golden Temple, were seen with Khalistani flags and Bhindranwale's posters. Source claimed that the crowd were also seen raising pro-Khalistani slogans.
06-Jun-2021
While speaking during the 37th Operation Bluestar anniversary observed in the Golden Temple complex, Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh emphasized maintaining unity among the Sikh community and tagged Operation Bluestar as “Chaurasi (84) Da Ghallughara (holocaust)”. Justifying the pro-Khalistan slogans, Giani Harpreet Singh said the event could never be forgotten by the Sikhs. “It is like an irretrievable wound and such slogans help them relieving their pain and anger against the atrocities of governments”, he said. Referring to blood-stained pages of the Sikh history, he said like the earlier massacres of the Sikhs in 1746 and 1762 by the Mughal empire that were termed ‘chhota ghallughara’ and ‘vadda ghallughara’ in which 7,000 and 35,000 Sikhs were killed, the 1984 Army attack was nothing short of “ghallughara”. The ‘parallel’ acting Jathedar of Akal Takht Dhyan Singh Mand, 2015 Sarbat Khalsa main organiser Jarnail Singh Sakhira, Shiromani Akali Dal - SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann and actor Deep Sidhu, who was charged for provoking the Red Fort violence, were also present.
06-Jun-2021
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Prem Singh Chandumajra demanded a probe by Supreme Court (SC) judges into Operation Bluestar. Chandumajra, who is a former MP, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said guilty must be brought to book. “Here’s a request to order a high-level judicial probe, comprising at least three sitting or retired judges of the Supreme Court, into the Army attack on Golden Temple in June 1984,” he wrote. He said, “There continues to be a question mark on several aspects of this action, including the number of those killed in the shrine between June 3 and 7, 1984. The truth must prevail.”
06-Jun-2021
On the occasion of 37th anniversary of Operation Blue Star, Delhi-based Sikh Forum has sent a resolution, signed by prominent Sikhs, including former IAS and defence forces officers, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, urging them to appoint a truth and reconciliation commission to record incidents of violence against innocents during 1980s. Mentioning the Army action on Darbar Sahib and 37 other gurdwaras, the resolution said, “The Indian state ordered this aggressive action against its own people. It resulted in the death of thousands of innocent men, women and children, who had gone to the shrine to pay their homage to Guru Arjan Dev. Many Sikhs were killed elsewhere in Punjab in the military operations in June 1984. The army action was followed, in November 1984, with the horrific pogrom against the Sikh community, when again thousands of innocent Sikhs were brutally murdered in Delhi and other parts of the country.”
06-Jun-2021
Various Sikh groups held a protest at the Guru Nanak Mission Chowk in Jalandhar district on the anniversary of the Operation Bluestar.
06-Jun-2021
Irate over the increasing number of deaths due to overdose of drugs, the panchayat of Shamkhera village in Lambi of Muktsar District has appealed to drug peddlers to mend their ways and passed a resolution in this regard.
05-Jun-2021
Thirty-seven years since the Sikh Reference Library got destroyed in Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple, confusion and ambiguities still prevail over the missing rare repository of manuscripts and other artifacts that were taken away by the army. Not only the Centre, the SGPC too has failed to come up with accurate details of the items that went missing and the ones returned by the Union government latter. And now, Punjab and Haryana high Court is hearing a petition filed last year by one Satinder Singh against the SGPC after former library director Anurag Singh questioned the integrity of the SGPC in preserving the rare repository. He claimed that the army had returned the items three months after the operation and the SGPC officials received them on September 29, 1984, but many items are missing from the library now. He also alleged that some of the rare ‘birs’ were sold.
05-Jun-2021
Ahead of the Operation Blue Star anniversary on June 6 which is also a lockdown day in Punjab, security in Amritsar has been tightened with the deployment of 6,000 policemen. Like every year, this year too several Sikh organisations have announced to reach Akal Takht to observe the anniversary.
05-Jun-2021
Punjabi movie actor-turned-farmer activist Deep Sidhu has given a call on his Facebook page to reach Akal Takht on Operation Bluestar anniversary .
05-Jun-2021
Dal Khalsa organised a Ghallughara Yadgaari Samagam on the eve of Operation Blue Star in the city during the day where family members of Sikh militants that include General Shubeg Singh, Sikh student federation leader Amrik Singh, and others were honored. Later, Dal Khalsa supporters, including women and children, took out a march calling it ‘Genocide Remembrance Parade’, displaying photographs of damaged Akal Takht and Sikhs who died during the operation in 1984.
04-Jun-2021
Police arrested three drug peddlers, identified as Hans Raj alias Hans, Balwindar Singh alias Gopi and Kulbir Singh alias Lakha along with 1 kilogram heroin, one pistol and a magazine in Shahkot in Jalandhar district.
04-Jun-2021
Akhand Path Sahib started to mark the annual martyrdom ceremony on June 6, to offer homage and respect to the martyrs including Sikh men, women, and children, who got martyred during the 1984 Operation Bluestar.
04-Jun-2021
In the wake of the Covid-19 threat, Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh appealed to the Sikh community to stay indoors and remember those who laid down their lives during the June 1984 Operation Bluestar.
04-Jun-2021
The Border Security Force (BSF) and police arrested two persons, identified as Roop Singh Valmiki and Harmesh Singh, who had allegedly gone to Khajuwala near the Sriganganagar-Bikaner highway to collect 54 packets of heroin that was pushed into India by Pakistan smugglers on the wee hour of June 4.