Akal Takht to Confer Honor on Bhai Gajinder Singh, Asks for Portraits in Museum

On 13 Jul, the apex Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) organized a prayer service for Bhai Gajinder Singh, founder of Dal Khalsa. It is for the first time that the SGPC has organized a prayer meet for a Sikh leader who died in Pakistan. At the meeting, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, announced the decision to confer the title of Jilawatan Sikh Yodha (Sikh warrior in-exile) on Gajinder Singh (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 28, Story 7). Giani Raghbir Singh has also directed the SGPC to display portraits of three Khalistan activists – Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, and Gajinder Singh – at the Central Sikh Museum in the Golden Temple complex. Nijjar and Panjwar were killed in 2023, and Singh was involved in a 1981 hijacking of an Air India plane to Lahore. Giani Raghbir Singh said, ‘Gajinder Singh was a warrior of Sikh struggles who dedicated a significant part of his life to the cause of the community. Despite his life as an exiled warrior, he never compromised on his firmness and dedication towards the struggle for freedom for the community. I regret that governments in the country where we reside have never truly considered our rights.’ Meanwhile, the Panjab Police has claimed it is addressing a surge in online hate speech cases targeting Sikhs by providing advanced training to 120 police personnel at 28 new Cyber Crime Police Stations. The SGPC has questioned the claim saying, ‘A number of social media (handles) using hate mongers with known and unknown identities, ghost accounts are using foreign land as safe haven to spread hatred against Sikh community... No concrete action has been taken on our complaints, despite concrete evidence.’