In the recent case of lynching of an Army personnel identified as Deepak Singh in Gurdaspur, Punjab, it has been found that the main accused and the supporters have deep links with the Khalistan movement. A Twitter user AkkaPrasanna published a tweet thread in which he added a screenshot of a 2018 report of Sikh Siyasat that mentioned the release of the accused Daljit Singh alias Bobby from Police custody.
Daljit Singh alias Bobby is one of the main accused in the Army man lynching case and has been absconding. A concerted effort has already been started by pro-Khalistani voices, to claim that Bobby is innocent and the lynched Army man had committed ‘blasphemy’.
https://twitter.com/AkkaPrasanna/status/1411750552757628929?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe information of the release was provided by Sikh Youth Federation Bhindranwale (SYFB) leader Ranjit Singh.
Notably, Ranjit Singh Damdami Taksal, who heads SYFB, had published a book titled “Shaheed-e-Khalistan”, glorifying the life of Khalistan terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. It also contained biographies of other terrorists associated with the Khalistani secessionist movement, along with details of some historical events related to it. The same book was promoted and distributed by actor-turned-activist Khalistan sympathizer Deep Sidhu during farmers protest at the Delhi border. He was seen with Ranjit Singh in a photograph holding the book during the distribution drive.
Earlier, OpIndia had mentioned Kathavachak Barjinder Singh Parwana, also a member of Damdami Taksal. He had published a video supporting the killing of Deepak Singh alleging ‘beadbi’ (disrespect) of Guru Granth Sahib. When we accessed his social media profiles on different social media platforms, we found that he has been promoting Bhindranwale openly. So much so, he has a massive tattoo of Bhindranwale’s portrait on his arm that can be seen during live videos that he had published on his social media accounts.
A brief history of Damdami Taksal
Damdami Taksal was founded in the 18th century by Guru Gobind Singh Ji to teach the scriptures and teachings of Guru Granth Sahib. The first head of Taksal was Baba Deep Singh Ji, one of the associates of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The word ‘Damdami’ came from the Damdama Sahib Gurudwara, where the tenth Guru of the Sikh faith, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, dictated Granth Sahib in its present form. The word ‘Taksal’ means mint that suggests unalloyed Sikhs are produced at the institute.
Notably, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a student of Damdami Taksal. He attended the institution’s branch located at the village of Chowk Mehta off the Jalandhar-Amritsar Highway. He studied the scriptures since the age of 11. At the age of 30 in 1977, Bhindranwale took charge of Damdami Taksal, and he stayed its leader till his death in 1984. It is believed that it was only after Bhindranwale taking charge of the Taksal that it became a synonym of fundamentalism and violence.