Eyeing SAD revival amid panthic churn, Sukhbir falls back on hardliner face to counter Amritpal

In his speech at the SAD conference, Khera trained his guns on Punjab’s rising radical forces, attacking Amritpal without naming him. He said, “We have been languishing in jails for many years but never wrote any letters to the government. And these people, who have been behind the bars for just 18 months, are pleading with the government. They had been calling for Khalistan and ‘azadi’. And then he himself did a compromise (by contesting polls and becoming an MP). I would have also become an MP but I never followed that path. I want to tell the government that they have no threat from ‘Bandi Singhs’ and that no Bandi Singh will be contesting to become an MP or MLA.”

Targeting Amritpal, Khera said, “These people want to disturb the peace of Punjab. Do you all want the return of the 1990s era when youngsters used to be taken by police to be later eliminated in fake encounters. In 1990, police arrested me and my brother who has never been found till date. We have not even organised his last prayer meeting till date as he remains missing for us till date.”

Khera figures in the list of about 20 Sikh prisoners, called Bandi Singhs, who have been languishing in various prisons, mostly in Punjab, after being convicted in various militancy cases.

Several Punjab parties or Sikh organisations, including the SAD and SGPC, have been demanding their release, holding that despite completing their life terms these prisoners have continued to be in jail. The SAD had contested the Sangrur bypoll in June 2022 on the Bandi Singh plank, which was however won by SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann.

Khera was given a life term by a TADA court in 1991 after he was convicted of his involvement in 1990 Delhi and Karnataka blasts.

Addressing the Akali Dal event, he was also all praise for Sukhbir Badal and his late father Parkash Badal, saying “I remained in a Karnataka jail since 1990 and was shifted to a Punjab jail in June 2015 due to efforts of then CM Parkash Badal. If anyone has helped Bandi Singhs, it is SAD and SGPC… My parole also started from 2016 onwards after I was shifted to Amritsar.”

Khera also accused SAD rebel leader Prem Singh Chandumajra for his alleged role in the operation “Black Thunder” undertaken by security forces to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in the late 1980s.

Hitting back, Chandumajra, who is now part of “SAD Sudhar Lehar” (rebel Akali Dal faction), said: “It seems that SAD president himself has lost his credibility that he is using a Bandi Singh to spread a false propaganda… I was never involved in operation Black Thunder. I had rather been jailed when I had protested against it.”

Khera also went after another radical Sikh preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal, who has been the Takht Damdama Sahib’s “parallel jathedar” as announced by the Sarbat Khalsa in November 2015. He also slammed Simranjit Singh Mann, asking what he has done for Bandi Singhs.

Besides Amritpal, another radical face Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa won the Lok Sabha election as an Independent candidate from the Faridkot constituency. Khalsa is the son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi.

During his Lok Sabha poll campaign, Sukhbir had made frontal attacks on Amritpal and Sarabjeet. He had even said that Punjabis should understand the “conspiracy” behind Amritpal’s poll bid from Khadoor Sahib. “You should determine whether a person who acquired Sikhi Saroop one year ago, is fit to lead you or your own 103-year-old party (SAD), which is steeped in the blood of our forefathers,” he had said in Baba Bakala, while campaigning for his party’s Khadoor Sahib candidate Virsa Singh Valtoha.

However, days after the polls results – which saw the SAD winning just one seat out of 13 as against the ruling AAP’s three and the Congress’s seven seats – Sukhbir had raised objection over the government’s move to extend NSA against Amritpal by one year. His wife and SAD’s lone Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also raised the matter in the House, asking why an elected MP was not being allowed to take oath in Parliament. Finally, Amritpal took oath as an MP on July 5 after he was flown to Delhi from Assam.

In his speech, Khera also alleged that the BJP leaders such as Iqbal Singh Lalpura, the National Minorities Commission chairman, and Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the BJP general secretary, were “not concerned about minorities and Bandi Singhs”.

Reacting sharply, state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said: “Akali Dal needs to introspect to set their own house in order. By getting a Bandi Singh to speak from Akali stage, they are finding an escape route. It seems that they have run out of political options. BJP never interferes in the religious affairs. When Haryana Gurdwara Management Committee was formed it was Congress government in Haryana. Sukhbir Badal should walk in the footsteps of his father Parkash Badal.”

Jakhar also said, “Such speeches (like Khera’s) will only vitiate the atmosphere of Punjab. They show lack of leadership in Akali Dal. SAD leaders need to rise to the occasion and try to rectify things within the party. BJP has nothing to do with their affairs. SAD seems to be confused as sometimes they talk against Amritpal and sometimes in his favour.”

Daduwal also slammed the SAD, alleging that “Gurdeep Khera made a speech scripted by Akali Dal. When he came out on parole for the first time in 2016, he used to speak against Badals and now is singing their praises. He is not only spoiling his own image but also that of other Bandi Singhs. SAD wants to stay alive as a panthic party by getting them on its stage.”

Meanwhile, Sukhbir said at an event at Longowal town on Tuesday: “You have listened to Khera Monday. It is very much clear who should be released from jail first. Should it be people like Gurdeep Khera, Balwant Rajona and Devinderpal Bhullar who have been incarcerated for as long as 30 years or those who have been detained for just one year.”