AMRITSAR In exile since 1995, Sikh freedom fighter and founding chief of Sikh organization Dal Khalsa Gajinder Singh has passed away after a brief illness in a hospital of Lahore in Pakistan, said the sources on Friday. The Sikh community is observing mourning over his death. 

He was 73 years old and living at Nankana Sahib, birthplace of Sikhi’s founder Guru Nanak. He suffered a heart attack a few days ago and was hospitalized. As per the sources, he saw improvement in his health condition, but again this turned critical. As a result, he breathed his last on July 3. After his death that shocked Sikh community across the world, his daughter Bikramjit Kaur who lives in United Kingdom, was called to Lahore. 

His last rites have also been performed. However, the Pakistan government kept everything undisclosed. Though he was in Pakistan in exile, its government never admitted this fact officially. He was also granted security cover in Nankana Sahib. After assassination of Khalistan Commando Force (KMF) chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar in May last year in Lahore, the Pakistan government shifted his stay at the government guest house to enhance his security. However, he spent his life in loneliness because his wife Manjit Kaur who died in 2019 in Germany, was not allowed to live with him in Pakistan. 

He dedicated his entire life for the Sikhs’ struggle for freedom of their homeland Punjab which is administered by the Indian Union. Mainly he is known for his deed of hijacking an Indian Airlines aircraft to Lahore. 

He along with other Sikh activists floated the organization Dal Khalsa and vowed to fight for the rights and freedom of the minority community. On September 29, 1981, he along with other colleagues, hijacked Indian Airline aircraft to Lahore in protest against the arrest of Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal chief Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was leading the Sikh struggle at that time. Their motive of hijacking the aircraft was to get Sant Bhindranwale released from the jail and raised the voice for Sikh freedom on global level. 

From 1981 to 1995, he served life imprisonment in Kot Lakhpat Rai Jail of Lahore. Since 1995, he was in exile since India declared him “one of the most wanted terrorist”. He could not return to India-administered Punjab. 

After the terror attack on Indian parliament, the Ministry of Home Affairs released a list of 20 persons to give to Pakistan to extradite these persons. Gajinder Singh was also on this list.

Besides being an activist, he was a great poet and author. He often expressed his emotions through poems on social media. He penned down many books that also advocated the sovereign Sikh state, taking inspiration from the Sikh history. 

In 2020, Akal Takht announced an award of ‘Sikh Warrior in Exile’ for him during the tenure of Giani Harpreet Singh. However, the award giving ceremony is yet to be organized at the highest Sikh temporal seat.

Leaders of all the Sikh organizations are paying tribute to the exiled Sikh leader. 

During its executive committee meeting held on Friday here, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) passed a resolution to pay him a rich tribute.