On 13th July, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh asked the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to put up portraits of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Gajinder Singh at Central Sikh Museum in the Golden Temple Complex. He made the demand during his address at a function organised by SGPC and Dal Khalsa at Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj Baba Gurbaksh Singh near the Golden Temple.
The function was organised to pay tribute to Gajinder Singh, a Khalistani terrorist who led the group that highjacked an Indian Airlines plane to Lahore in 1981 and demanded the release of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He died in Lahore on 3rd July.
Gajinder spent 14 years in a Pakistani jail for hijacking a plane in 1981. The plane was hijacked soon after Bhindranwale was arrested after the assassination of Lala Jagat Narain, founder and editor of Hind Samachar Group. He was released from a Pakistani prison in 1995 and was living in exile. In 2001, after the Parliament attack, the Ministry of Home Affairs released a list of 20 wanted criminals and handed it over to Pakistan for extradition. Ganjinder was one of those 20 individuals wanted in India.
Giani Raghbir Singh demanded the portraits to be displayed at the museum given their “sacrifices”. For those who are unaware, Panjwar was the chief of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). He was one of the most wanted criminals in India. Panjwar was shot dead on 6th May 2023 in Lahore.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a designated terrorist by the Government of India. He was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia Canada in an apparent gang war on 18th June 2023. Following his assassination, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of killing him but failed to provide any evidence for the same. The accusations led to sour relations between India and Canada. So far, Canada has not provided any workable evidence that Indian agents were involved in Nijjar’s murder.
