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Wanted Pro-Khalistan leader Gajinder Singh dies in Pakistan
A few days ago, he had suffered a heart attack, after which he was admitted to Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore, Pakistan.
Pro-Khalistan leader Gajinder Singh, who led the group that hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore in 1981 and was one of the most-wanted persons in the record of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), passed away at the age of 73 after a brief illness in Lahore on July 3, sources said on Friday.
A few days ago, he had suffered a heart attack, after which he was admitted to Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore, Pakistan.
Founder of the separatist Sikh organisation ‘Dal Khalsa’, Gajinder lived alone in Nankana Sahib, where he owned a house and farmland, and under state security.
After the assassination of Khalistan Commando Force chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar in May last year in Lahore, the Pakistan government shifted Gajinder to a state guest house to enhance his security.
Paying tribute to him during a meeting, office-bearers of Dal Khalsa said, “His last rites were performed at cremation ground of Nankana Sahib on July 4 evening in presence of his daughter Bikramjit Kaur who came from United Kingdom (UK)”.
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He spent 14 years in a Pakistani prison for the hijacking incident on September 29, 1981, and for the release of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was arrested for assassinating Lala Jagat Narain, the founder editor of Hind Samachar Group.
Since his release from Pakistani prison, where he was lodged in the case of hijacking, in 1995, Gajinder was living in exile. After the terror attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, the MHA released a list of 20 people to Pakistan for extradition with Gajinder being one of them.
In 1971, he threw pamphlets of Sikh homeland on the stage of the then PM Indira Gandhi during a rally.
While his wife Manjit Kaur passed away in 2018 in Germany, his daughter Bikramjit Kaur lives in the United Kingdom and is married.
Gajinder has also penned down nine books that advocated a separate Sikh state. He was active on social media and often shared his poems and views. However, his social media accounts were banned several times.
In 2020, Akal Takht announced a title of ‘Sikh Warrior in Exile’ for him during the tenure of Giani Harpreet Singh. However, the ceremony to confer the title upon him has not been organised at the highest Sikh temporal seat.
Leaders of the separatist organisation said a bhog ceremony will be held at Akal Takht on July 13 in memory of Gajinder Singh.
SGPC passes resolution to pay tribute to Gajinder Singh
In its executive committee meeting held here on Friday, the SGPC expressed grief over his demise. SAD leader and former Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Paramjit Singh Sarna also paid tribute to him.
