KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
03-Jun-2021
According to officials, the banned terror organization, Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) planned to kill Dera Sacha Sauda follower Shakti Singh, who is an accused in three cases registered in connection with the Bargari sacrilege. However, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the 2015 sacrilege cases arrested him along with other accused before the KTF operatives could execute their plan, officials said. The two KTF operatives, who allegedly killed a Dera follower in Bathinda last year, were arrested by Moga police on May 22. It was revealed during the interrogation of four KTF operatives arrested by Moga police in connection with a murder case.
03-Jun-2021
Amritsar police will deploy more than 6,000 cops to keep a vigil in Amritsar on the 37th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, conducted by the army in 1984 to flush out militants hiding in the Golden Temple complex, on June 6. Since various Sikh bodies, including separatist outfits, have started organising programmes to observe the anniversary, a flag march was conducted by the police from Hall Gate to Heritage Street that leads to the Golden Temple on June 3.
03-Jun-2021
Thirty-seven years after Operation Bluestar, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to put on display the bullet-riddled ‘saroop’ of Guru Granth Sahib and the gold-plated sheets of the Golden Temple that were damaged during the Army attack in June 1984. Besides, the original ‘khu’ (well), known as ‘Akalsar’, associated with the era of Guru Hargobind Singh, would also be made open for public view. The well also bore the brunt of the attack on its outer surface.
03-Jun-2021
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) informed that ‘Akhand Path’ would commence at Akal Takht from June 4 and bhog would be held on June 6.
02-Jun-2021
Police busted an interstate intoxicant tablet smuggling network with the arrest of two drug peddlers and recovered 1,15,350 tablets and 51 kg poppy husk from them in Fazilka district.
01-Jun-2021
Punjab Police arrested a suspected Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) operative, who they believe was one of the main shooters involved in the murder of a follower of the Dera Sacha Sauda and the attempted murder of a priest, identified as Kamaljeet Sharma along with four .315 bore pistols with 10 live cartridges from near village Nathuwala Jadid in Moga District. Earlier, Police arrested two of his associates Lovepreet Singh and Ram Singh from Moga on May 22. Police claim the trio had been found acting on the directions of KTF’s Canada based chief, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who has been notified as a ‘designated terrorist’ under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) by the central government.
01-Jun-2021
With just days left for the 37th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) is in a quandary as Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal has failed to complete a portrait gallery dedicated to those killed in action in the Golden Temple complex even as the project was assigned four years back. The radical Sikh leader, Kanwarpal Singh questioned the apex gurdwara body over the delay that, “The SGPC, being custodian of the project, must clarify about the fate of the gallery. The gurdwara body president must tell what hurdle they are facing in completing the project.” Besides militants, portraits of the devotees killed in the operation were also proposed to be installed in the gallery. The portraits will include those of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the then head of the seminary, and his military adviser Major General Shabeg Singh who helped fortify the shrine complex.
01-Jun-2021
The Akal Takht announced plans to make a documentary on the Army’s operation in June 1984, thirty-seven years after Operation Bluestar. For the purpose, the officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has called up the surviving dramatis personae to submit their experience in a video format so that these could be compiled to recreate what happened inside the Golden Temple complex during those fateful days between June 1 and 10 in 1984.
01-Jun-2021
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) asked to expedite the work on the martyrs’ gallery, dedicated to those killed during Operation Bluestar, on the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. The ‘karsewa’ for the gallery being set up in the basement of Gurdwara Shaheedan in the Operation Bluestar memorial, was entrusted to Damdami Taksal, once headed by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The ceremony was officially launched in 2017 in the presence of the then SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh and Damdami Taksal head Harnam Singh Khalsa. But the project that was aimed to be completed within a year lingered on. SGPC chief secretary Harjinder Singh Dhami said the work got affected due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. In the backdrop, the idea was to have portraits of ‘militants’ and pilgrims, who lost lives during the Army ‘assault’ in June 1984. Banking on the compensation of Rs10,000 awarded to the kin of Sikh activists in 1984, the SGPC has in its possession a list of 743 persons. On the other hand, a survey was conducted by Dal Khalsa which was compiled in a directory titled ‘Martyrs of June 1984 holocaust’ in 2006. It carried a brief about the militants and was updated twice in 2007 and 2012. The Damdami Taksal, in collaboration with the SGPC, Dal Khalsa and a US-based organisation, has prepared two lists comprising 890 persons.
01-Jun-2021
Akal Takht announced a documentary on the Army’s Operation Bluestar in its thirty-seven years anniversary. For the purpose, officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has asked eyewitnesses and others to submit their experiences in a video format so that these could be compiled to recreate what happened inside the Golden Temple complex between June 1 and 10 in 1984. The idea is to have an authentic and credible account with the help of eyewitness’ interviews and interrogation reports of the Army. The Jathedar met an eyewitness, Harwinder Singh Khalsa, a ‘Panth Sewak’ awardee, to know about his experience.
31-May-2021
According to sources, the Damdami Taksal, which is working on a ‘memorial gallery’ on the premises of the Golden Temple in Amritsar to honour those who perished during Operation Blue Star, has managed to collect information of around 900 people, most of whom are militants, with hardly any data on devotees who were killed at the time. Despite the long history of politics over the issue, no Sikh body has accurate data on those killed during the operation. The spokesperson of the Damdami Taksal, Sarchand Singh said, “We have around 900 names so far. Around 80 per cent of these are Sikh fighters. We have managed to collect around 600 pictures of those killed inside Golden Temple. These pictures will be displayed in the gallery.” Asked how many devotees were killed during the operation, he put the approximate number at 3,000. A gurdwara called ‘Operation Blue Star Memorial’, was constructed in the Golden Temple premises in 2013 and the new gallery will come up in the basement of this memorial.
31-May-2021
The Dal Khalsa, in remembrance of Sikhs and pilgrims who were killed during Operation Bluestar, has decided to organise ‘Ghallughara Yadgari Samagam’ in four districts of the state from June 3 to 6. The events will be held at Moga and Mullanpur (Ludhiana) on June 3, Bhatinda on June 4 and Amritsar on June 5. The organisation called upon masses to gather at Akal Takht on June 6.
31-May-2021
Sikh and Hindu refugees living in Ludhiana have hailed the Union government’s move to invite applications from immigrants belonging to minority communities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh for Indian citizenship.
30-May-2021
Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh flayed the Punjab government for not providing vaccine to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for organising free vaccination camps at Gurudwaras.
28-May-2021
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) demanded from the Pakistan government the safety and security of Sikhs living there. SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur raised the demand raising concern over reports of threats to members of the Sikh community in Pakistan.
28-May-2021
The Central government invited non-Muslims like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists belonging to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and residing in 13 districts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab to apply for Indian citizenship. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification in this effect for immediate implementation of the order under the Citizenship Act 1955 and Rules framed under the law in 2009 even though the rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) enacted in 2019 are yet to be framed by the government.
26-May-2021
Moga Police booked three operatives of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) for killing gangster Sukha Lamme in June 2020. The accused were identified as Arshdeep Singh, Lovepreet Singh and Kamaljeet Singh of Dala village of Moga. Lovepreet and Kamaljeet were arrested on May 22 for their involvement in several heinous crimes in the past. Arshdeep, who is living abroad, is yet to be arrested.
25-May-2021
Police arrested a drug peddler of Delhi, identified as Pritpal Singh after it recovered 1kg of heroin from his possession at Doraha in Ludhiana district.
25-May-2021
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) decided to move ahead with its plans to make religious films but under the ambit of Sikh ‘rehat maryada’ as directed by Akal Takht.
24-May-2021
Anti-Narcotics staff arrested two persons, Mangal Singh Manga and Ganagdeep Singh Raja and recovered 2.6 kg of opium from their possession in Tarn Taran district.
24-May-2021
Police, in separate cases, arrested 10 persons and recovered more than 7,000 intoxicant tablets and drug money worth Rs 9 lakh besides 3-gram heroin in Ferozepur district.
24-May-2021
The National Investigation Agency (NIA)’s recent charge sheet revealed big details of narco-smuggling route between Pak-Gujarat-Punjab. The charge sheet was filed in connection with a narcotics case that arose out of Gujarat.
23-May-2021
Punjab Police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) recovered 13.30 kg heroin, worth Rs 66 crore in the international market, during a joint operation with the BSF along the Pakistan border in Ferozepur district.
22-May-2021
Punjab Police arrested two operatives of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), identified as Lovepreet Singh alias Ravi and Ram Singh alias Sonu from the rear side of Senior Secondary School near railway crossing Mehna in Moga district on May 22. The duo allegedly involved in several heinous crimes in the last one year, including the murder of a sect follower and firing on a priest. They were acting on the directions of KTF’s Canada-based chief, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose name incidentally figured in the list of Khalistani operatives that was handed over by Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the latter’s visit to India in 2018. With their arrest, police also foiled a plan to kill another sect follower, who they were targeting to take revenge in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege cases. Three 0.32 bore pistols with 38 live cartridges and one 0.315 bore pistol with 10 live cartridges, along with two magazines, were also recovered from the suspects. The DGP Dinkar Gupta disclosed that “Besides, Nijjar, three of their other KTF’s co-conspirators, identified as Arshdip, Ramandip and Charanjit alias Rinku Bihla, are hiding out in Surrey (BC) Canada, while one, Kamaljeet Sharma alias Kamal, is still absconding.” He said while Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh and Ramandeep Singh alias Raman Judge went to Canada legally in 2019 and 2017 respectively, Charanjit Singh alias Rinku Bihla had gone there illegally in around 2013-14. The DGP also said investigations were in progress to unravel further links of the accused and trace other previous crimes in which they might have been involved.
20-May-2021
Police arrested three youths, identified as Varun Kumar, Mohit Sharma alias Pandit and Simranjeet Singh Randhawa and recovered 1.6kg charas from them in Model Town in Jalandhar district.