SGPC (Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee) earned the ire of a retired Sikh diplomat for eulogizing terrorists.

Former Sikh diplomat Condemns SGPC

Former IFS (Indian Foreign Services) officer Amar Jit Singh took to the social media platform ‘X’ to register his displeasure at terrorists being feted by the Gurudwara committee. “How unfortunate that a religious body so brazenly eulogizes terrorists and their cronies to the detriment of the community!All in the guise of protecting Sikhs’ rights across the globe. Sri Harmandir Sahib was desecrated, thousands killed, raped, looted but, Alas, no lessons learned!” he wrote.

Earlier, SGPC Amritsar put up a post in Punjabi ‘celebrating’ the death anniversary of Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha. The duo were also hailed as ‘martyrs’ in the post. Furthermore, Committee member Bhagwant Singh Sialka said that the community ‘worships the martyrdom’ of the two.

Who were Jinda and Sukha

Many Bharatiyas remain unaware of the profound terror that gripped Punjab during the Punjab insurgency. Khalistani terrorists, seeking to establish a separate state of Khalistan, carried out numerous high-profile assassinations. Among them were Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha, members of the Khalistan Commando Force. Jinda hailed from Jandiala, Amritsar, and Sukha from Ganganagar, Rajasthan. Both abandoned their studies to join the Khalistan movement after Operation Blue Star.

Jinda, Sukha, and accomplice Ranjit Singh Gill assassinated Congress leader Lalit Maken (accused of Sikh genocide) in July 1985. Maken’s wife also suffered injuries and subsequently succumbed to the same. In September 1985, they targeted Congress leader Arjan Dass (accused of Sikh genocide) for his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The duo executed the assassination of General Arun Vaidya (who designed and supervised Operation Blue Star) in August 1986, attributing it to avenge Operation Blue Star.

In February 1987, Jinda and Sukha, along with other Khalistan Commando Force members, executed Bharat’s largest bank robbery, looting over Rs 5 crore from Punjab National Bank, Ludhiana. Jinda’s nephew, Mathra Singh, was also involved in the robbery.

Jinda was arrested in March 1987, and Sukha in September 1987 after a truck accident in Pune. Despite admitting to the assassination of General Vaidya, they pleaded not guilty, justifying their actions as a response to his alleged serious crimes. They were sentenced to death in October 1989 and hanged in Yerwada jail on 9 October, 1992 while chanting pro-Khalistan slogans. Despite their terrorist acts, the SGPC has ‘honoured’ them as ‘martyrs’.

In recent times, SGPC has taken numerous anti-Bharat stances and made statements that are against our national interest. In April, SGPC’s legal team took up the case of Khalistani terrorists lodged in Assam jail.

Shri Jaibans Singh, who has studied ISI for the last two decades, highlighted SGPC’s role in Khalistan 2.0 during his discussion with Shri Ratan Sharda. “Khalistani elements got a law passed in the Parliament about 200 years ago limiting sects that can vote in SGPC elections. Sahajdaris, Keshdaris, those who have not been baptized with Amrit, and many others were excluded. They have, thereby, narrowed down which Sikhs can vote in the SGPC elections only to strengthen their position. This is against the Sikh religion, the Constitution, and the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. Politicians are doing this so that they have an iron grip on SGPC”, said Shri Harinder Sikka during the discussion.

Anti-Bharat acts of SGPC

Their stance has always been contrary to the Bharatiya Government. Last year, SGPC opposed the Modi Government’s decision to celebrate 26 December as Veer Bal Divas to give tribute to Guru Gobind Singh’s sons. They even felicitated Sikh youth Jugraj Singh who hoisted the Sikh religious flag (Nishan Sahib/Kesri Flag) on the Red Fort during the Republic Day violence. SGPC gave Rs 1 lakh to Jugraj’s family.

What better do we expect from an organization that placed the picture of former Punjab CM Beant Singh’s assassin Dilawar Singh at the Central Sikh Museum inside the Golden Temple Complex? The Sikh body also paid ‘homage’ to former Indian PM Indira Gandhi and called them ‘martyrs’ in addition to honouring their families.

Even in the ongoing Bharat-Canada diplomatic row, it refused to stand by Bharat. Akal Takht played with fire by asking PM Modi to ‘clarify his stand’ on Trudeau’s allegations over Khalistani Nijjar’s death. In fact, it even passed a resolution supporting Canada’s charges against Bharat and subsequently played the victim card while ignoring Khalistani terrorist threats.

Moreover, it even justified the Khalistani attack on Indian High Commissioner to the UK in Scotland’s Glasgow. Khalistanis have attacked numerous Bharatiya diplomats and High Commission offices in several Western nations. Also, while extending indirect support to the Canadian version and playing the victim card, the SGPC has not spoken anything about the burning of the Bharatiya flag, the threats against Bharat’s diplomats, and the open declaration of violence against Canadian Hindus by the Canadian Khalistanis.

Sikh activist Puneet Sahani calls them MacSikhs. Puneet firmly believes that there is a Sanatani connection between Hindus and Sikhs that needs to be restored. He emphasizes that from the beginning, there was no distinction between Hindus and Sikhs, and the two were not even considered to be two different communities. He attributes the killing and distortion of tradition for political ends to English Government servant Arthur Macauliffe.

Macauliffe was the first person who wrote an extended history of Sikhs, which was the first one in English. Furthermore, it became the primary source as it was the first book on Sikh history in English. Puneet says what people are following now is not what was written by Sikh Gurus and what is found in Sikh Granthas. He adds that the Sikh history being propagated today is the one created by Macauliffe. Those who follow Macaullife, including the SGPC, are termed as MacSikhs by Puneet.

He also says that SGPC is guilty of promoting distorted history and outrageous claims written by Macauliffe to serve its narrow ends. Puneet emphasizes that the entire history has been totally distorted, and nobody is permitted to talk about it.

Despite getting repeatedly schooled by Sikh community members like Amar Jit Singh and Puneet Sahani over its support for Khalistani elements, SGPC refuses to mend its ways.