Observing 40 years of an incident which catapulted the Sikh cause for freedom into the limelight, revolutionary Sikh body, committed to the sovereign rights of the Sikh people -Dal Khalsa, at a function in Jalandhar honoured its founder Gajinder Singh and his four compatriots who took the extreme step of hijacking on 29 September 1981 to secure the release of Sikh national hero Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and also to focus world attention on the plight of Sikhs. WSN reports.

At a well-attended Gurmat Samagam in a local Gurdwara, in the presence of stalwarts from the Sikh world, the quintet of five hijackers were honoured with gold medals expressing deep gratitude for their long imprisonments and exile. Of the five, Gajinder Singh, Jasbir Singh, Karan Singh are still in exile while Satnam Singh and Tejinderpal Singh have returned to Punjab after completion of their life sentences in Pakistan prisons for 14 years.

Revolutionary poet and sheet anchor of Dal Khalsa -Gajinder Singh, continues to be in exile as a stateless person, as he has chosen to provide the ideological path to Sikhs and particularly to those who are committed to Sikh nationalism leading to the creation of a sovereign Sikh state.  Jasbir Singh and Karan Singh too are in exile, whereas Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib and Tejinder Pal Singh have returned to their homeland Punjab to continue to contribute their bit in the struggle for freedom. It is this spirit that we observe today and It is this legacy that we carry forward, read the Dal Khalsa statement. 

“With this one act of Dal Khalsa, the struggle for Khalistan drew international attention. The world came to know about the Sikh goal for independence.”

Kanwar Pal Singh, Spokesperson, Dal Khalsa

Dal Khalsa leadership had to take the extreme step to hijack the plane, because, in the late ’70s of the last century, the Sikhs of Punjab faced cultural and political attacks as their lives were hijacked by the Indian state machinery, said party spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh.

Pushed to the wall, with no possibility of justice and fair play in sight, Dal Khalsa men led by Gajinder Singh, recognising the need of the hour, decided to hijack an aeroplane on 29 September 1981 to protest against the arrest of Sant Bhindranwale in a pseudo-murder case, killings of thirteen protesting Sikhs at Chowk Mehta, Amritsar and to focus world attention on Indian atrocities on Sikhs in the Punjab. 

Significantly, the hijacking was a peaceful action, with the passengers, after the hijacking, paying wholesome tributes to the nicety of the Sikh hijackers.

He said that “with this one act of Dal Khalsa, the struggle for Khalistan drew international attention. The world came to know about the Sikh goal for independence.”

Even Gajinder Singh was forthright in his thoughts expressed strongly in his poems, when he said, “The struggle for a home for the Sikhs will stay alive till it reaches its logical conclusion.”

“We are carrying the same struggle forward in a democratic manner and any compromise with the goal amounts to belittling the sacrifices of the martyrs. Demands for federalism, autonomy or special powers within the ambit of the Indian constitution can’t be a substitute for the goal of complete independence from the Indian yoke.”  

“The struggle for a home for the Sikhs will stay alive till it reaches its logical conclusion.”

Gajinder Singh, Founder leader Dal Khalsa, presently in exile

Party head Harpal Singh Cheema said the Dal Khalsa, today recalls the day with pride that their leadership, fully mindful of the consequences, took the plunge, in a fully peaceful manner without harming any passenger whatsoever. 

Ishar Singh -son of Sant Bhindranwale, former militant leader Narien Singh, SGPC member Sukhdev Singh Bhaur and Karnail Singh Panjoli, Beant Singh brother of General Shabeg Singh of June 1984 fame, bestowed the honour on the stalwarts and their relatives.