The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee — the body responsible for the management of Gurdwaras — on Tuesday placed a portrait of the assassin of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in the central Sikh museum, situated inside Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar.
The SGPC also installed a portrait of the former ‘head granthi’ of Akal Takht Sahib — the highest Sikh temporal seat — Giani Bhagwan Singh at the museum.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh said this was to acknowledge their services.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and at least 16 others were killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995.
Dilawar Singh, the suicide bomber, was a Punjab police officer who joined Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a terror organisation striving for a separate Sikh state.
Mr. Harjinder Singh said Dilawar Singh had put an end to the atrocities and gross human rights violations committed against the Sikhs then. “...The decision of sacrificing self is not possible without the Guru’s blessing and whenever atrocities were committed on the Qaum (community), Sikhs have always made history by making sacrifices,” he said.
Family members of Dilawar Singh and Giani Bhagwan Singh were honoured with the ‘Siropaos’ (robes of honour) by the SGPC President.
Among others, the picture of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi have already been installed at the central Sikh museum.
