Dilawar Singh was the suicide bomber who attacked the Punjab civil secretariat complex, leading to the death of then Chief Minister Beant Singh and 16 others. His portrait now hangs at the museum located on the Golden Temple premises
The portrait of Dilawar Singh (right) was installed on Tuesday along with that of Giani Bhagwan Singh, who was the Akal Takht’s head granthi during Operation Bluestar. Image Courtesy: @SGPCAmritsar/Twitter
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the body responsible for the management of gurdwaras in India, has unveiled the portrait of Dilawar Singh, the assassin of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh at the Central Sikh Museum located on the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.
The caption of the portrait describes Singh as the one “who attained martyrdom while putting an end to the state atrocities”. The blast at the civil secretariat complex, which killed the then chief minister in Chandigarh, also claimed 16 other lives on 31 August 1995.
Who is Dilawar Singh?
Dilawar Singh was among the three Punjab Police officials who joined the militant outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). A constable, he was part of the plan to execute Beant Singh.
Along with Balwant Singh Rajoana and Lakhwinder Singh, he carried out the assassination on the instructions of BKI. Dilawar was the suicide bomber who attacked the secretariat complex.
Balwant Singh Rajoana is awaiting his death sentence and Lakhwinder Singh has been sentenced to life.
Why is Dilawar Singh celebrated?
Radical Sikhs were up in arms against Beant Singh, as he did not support the “cause” of Khalistan, a Sikh separatist movement seeking a homeland for a community by establishing a sovereign state. They also held him responsible for the “extra-judicial killings” of Sikh youth.
In a judicial confession recorded in January 1996, Rajoana stated, “Judge Sahib, Beant Singh assumed himself [to be the] angel of peace after killing thousand innocent people, compared himself with Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Ram Ji, thereafter we had decided to killed Chief Minister Sh Beant Singh”, reports The Indian Express.
Angry over Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riots, Rajoana believed that police killed young innocent Sikhs and the atrocities were inflicted by the Chief Minister of Punjab (Beant Singh) at the behest of “agencies in Delhi”
On 23 March 2012, on the occasion of Shaheed Diwas, the Akal Takht, one of the five seats of power of Sikhs located in the Golden Temple, had declared Dilawar Singh Qaumi Shaheed and Rajoana Jinda Shaheed (living martyr).
Putting up a portrait of Dilawar Singh at the museum was a long-pending demand of radical Sikh groups. The SGPC had passed a resolution to install it in 2017.
“Dilawar Singh had put an end to the atrocities and gross human rights violations committed against the Sikhs. The decision of sacrificing self is not possible without the Guru’s blessings and whenever atrocities were committed on the community, Sikhs have always made history by making sacrifices,” SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, who unveiled the portrait on Tuesday, said. He also presented “siropas” (robes of honour) to the family members of Dilawar Singh.
On Tuesday, the United States-based banned outfit Sikhs for Justice launched “Shaheed 2020”, a Google app to honour Dilawar and promote the Khalistan referendum campaign in Punjab.
The portrait of Giani Bhagwan Singh, who was the Akal Takht’s head granthi during Operation Bluestar, was also installed during the function.
Has there been a backlash?
The move has not gone down well with the Anti-Terrorist Front of India. Its president Viresh Shandilya has said that they will protest outside the Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh and move the Punjab and Haryana high court against the “installation of the portrait of a human bomb in the holiest of holy sites”.
On Tuesday, he said that it was an indication of the return of terrorism in Punjab and called on chief minister Bhagwant Mann to stop the installation of the portrait.
With inputs from agencies
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