E-Paper
Parmjit Singh Panjwar, bank employee to designated terrorist
The village is not far away from the India-Pakistan border. During militancy, Panjwar often used to visit Pakistan clandestinely
Shot dead at Lahore in Pakistan by unknown assailants, Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) chief Parmjit Singh Panjwar was among the few militant leaders who formed the backbone of militancy in Punjab during the 1990s.
Also read: Khalistan Commando chief Paramjit Panjwar gunned down in Lahore
It was a murder of another militant in Pakistan who was wanted in India. Three years ago, Khalistan Liberation Force leader Harmeet Singh, alias Happy PhD, was killed near Lahore.
Born at Panjwar village in Tarn Taran district, known as a bastion of militants, Parmjit Singh Panjwar was 60 years old. The village is not far away from the India-Pakistan border. During militancy, Panjwar often used to visit Pakistan clandestinely.
He worked in the Central Cooperative Bank before joining the militants. Former KCF chief Sukhdev Singh Sukha, alias General Labh Singh Panjwar, was also from the same village and has relations with his family. Labh Singh was the main source of inspiration for Panjwar to become an insurgent.
In 1989, Panjwar was appointed as chief of the militant organization, which was called the army of Khalistan, which was declared on April 29, 1986, after the death of his predecessor Kanwarjit Singh Sultanwind.
Besides taking part in many violent acts, Panjwar was the man behind the execution of main militant organizations’ joint plan to assassinate the then All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) general secretary Harminder Singh Sandhu in Amritsar amid differences between the militants and AISSF leaders, according to officials.
As a representative of the KCF in the Sohan Singh-led Panthic committee, Panjwar played an important role in ensuring the boycott of 1992 assembly elections by Sikh militant and political groups, said Sarabjit Singh Ghuman, a Sikh writer and thinker.
When circumstances no longer remained favourable for militancy in Punjab, he fled to Pakistan permanently and never returned. Panjwar was staying in Pakistan unofficially, according to the officials. Booked in several cases, he was one of the most wanted terrorists in India.
“The news of his assassination is shocking, of course. He has been lying low for many years. I knew him personally as we worked together under the umbrella of the Panthic committee during the peak days of militancy in the early 90s. Identity of his killers is a mystery, but surely they are enemies of the Sikh cause,” said Kanwarpal Singh, a former militant who worked with Panjwar.
In September last year, Panjwar lost his wife Paljit Kaur, who in Germany at the time of death, along with her sonsShahbaz Singh and Manveer Singh. The American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Dal Khalsa organized a function in the Golden Temple complex with cooperation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to pay tribute to his wife.
“She had to leave the country as she faced harassment and torture here,” said Kanwarpal.
About a month back, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court declared Jagdeep Singh, former assistant inspector general of Punjab police, a proclaimed offender in the case of an alleged disappearance of Panjwar’s mother in 1992.
Read more: 'Amritpal Singh could be dangerous if…', say Punjab Police sources: Report
Mohinder Kaur, 75, disappeared after being allegedly abducted by the then station house officer of Chabhal police station Jagdeep Singh and the then deputy superintendent of police Ashok Kumar from her home in November 1992.
Kumar has since died while Jagdeep, who was promoted, took retirement from the police department a year ago. Justice Ajit Singh Bains, former judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court and a human rights defender, had filed a petition in the court, demanding an inquiry from a central agency in Kaur’s disappearance.
