Ex-militant who shot at Sukhbir left a Facebook post months earlier: ‘Apology can’t absolve Akali sins’

While police are yet to ascertain Chaura’s motive in attacking Badal, in a Facebook post on July 14, he had written that any apology by the SAD leader could not undo the party’s “sins”. Badal was attacked while serving the religious punishment given to him by the Akal Takht over “lapses” by the government led by him from 2007 to 2017, including the sacrilege cases under it.

Chaura posted: “The Sikh community has politically rejected the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) due to its grave misdeeds, and now the party is using the Akal Takht Sahib as a means to revive its tarnished reputation. This party is an enemy of the Panth and no longer has the right to lead the Sikh community in the political arena. The Panth has already expressed its stance by rejecting this party from the political domain… Any attempt to absolve them of their wrongdoings through symbolic punishments will not be accepted by the Khalsa Panth.”

Chaura has also been writing at other fora on the “sacrilege” cases under the Akali government. Questioning “the lack of justice” in the matters, he has justified murders of some accused or suspects in the sacrilege cases.

A year ago, Chaura had hit the headlines when he, along with another ex-militant, Daljit Singh Bittu, held a press conference criticising Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh over the attack on a police station in Ajnala. This had attracted Bittu and Chaura the ire of the supporters of Amritpal.

A man opened fire at Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal at the entrance of Golden Temple, Amritsar. (PTI/ Screengrab)

In the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, Amritpal, who remains behind bars on charges of promoting Khalistani activities, won from Khadoor Sahib as an Independent.

Chaura has another link to Amritpal. While he was in jail, a Sarbat Khalsa was held near Amritsar in 2015 that discussed, among other things, the incidents of “sacrilege” under the Akali Dal government. At the meeting, a message in Chaura’s name, criticising the SAD, was read out by Papal Preet Singh, the alleged mentor of Amritpal.

Papal Preet is also currently in jail along with Amritpal.

Since Chaura’s brother is in the Congress, the SAD has linked him to the Congress in the past. Chaura, however, has always denied this.

Born in 1956 in village Chaura Bajwa in Dera Baba Nanak into a farming family, Chaura trained as a Sikh preacher, securing a “Giani” degree from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and first came to attention for his lectures on Sikhism. He wrote several books, and eventually worked for the SGPC as a preacher.

Around the beginning of Punjab militancy, Chaura joined the Akal Federation in 1982. Soon after Operation Blue Star to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in June 1984, he made his way to Pakistan, where he is believed to have got training as a militant. He later formed the Khalistan National Army, which remained a little-known outfit.

During this time, Chaura was also accused of helping Babbar Khalsa International militants Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora, Jagtar Singh Tara and Devi Singh escape from Burail Jail in Chandigarh.

Chaura eventually served three stints in jail – between September 5, 1995, and July 31, 1997; then January 29, 2004, and April 29, 2005; and finally February 26, 2013, to August 4, 2018. He faced charges under stringent laws such as the TADA and UAPA, along with sections of the IPC, including allegations of waging war against the State, but was acquitted in most of the cases.