Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale: life, June 1984 and the SGPC calendar

The SGPC's Nanakshahi calendar keeps two days for Sant Jarnail Singh Ji Khalsa Bhindranwale: his birth anniversary in June, and the anniversary of his death at Sri Akal Takht Sahib in June 1984, which it marks as a shaheedi together with that of Bhai Amrik Singh Ji. His life remains one of the most debated in modern Sikh history.

The preacher

Jarnail Singh was born in 1947 at Rode, in Faridkot district, into a farming family, and was sent as a boy to study at the Damdami Taksal, a seminary of Sikh learning that traces its origins to Damdama Sahib. In 1977 he became its head. Travelling from village to village, he became widely known as a preacher who urged young Sikhs to take Amrit, keep their kes and give up alcohol and drugs, and many responded.

The political struggle

In the early 1980s he became a leading figure in the agitation over Punjab's demands, at a time of rising violence in the state, and from 1982 he lived in the Sri Harmandir Sahib complex, later at Sri Akal Takht Sahib. He was killed there during the army operation of June 1984, together with Bhai Amrik Singh Ji, president of the All India Sikh Students Federation and son of the earlier head of the Taksal, and with many others.

Differing views

Many Sikhs regard him as a shaheed who stood for the dignity of the Panth; others, in India and beyond, hold him responsible for the violence of those years. Hazri follows the SGPC's calendar in listing both days. They are observed with Akhand Paath and Ardas, especially at Sri Akal Takht Sahib and at the Damdami Taksal headquarters at Mehta Chowk.