Author Hardeep Singh

FARIDKOT: Assassination of young Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau, who has been taking part in the pro-freedom Sikh struggle in Punjab for the last few years, has worried the community, as it is another killing of the Sikh activist in recent time. 

A village of Hari Nau village in Faridkot district was shot dead by two bike-borne unidentified persons on October 9.

As per media reports, two unidentified men intercepted Gurpreet when he was returning to his house, and opened fire on him. Gurpreet Singh was rushed to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital at Faridkot, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Gurpreet Singh was a close associate of pro-freedom Sikh organization Waris Punjab De (WPD) founder Sandeep Singh aka Deep Sidhu, who actor-turned-Sikh activist and died in a road accident which was allegedly staged by the Indian agencies, according to the Sikh bodies. In the past, he had actively participated in the protest related to sacrilege and post-sacrilege firing cases. In farmer agitation as well, he remained active along with Deep Sidhu. 

Three days have passed since the murder took place, Police have not traced any killer. The Sikh bodies and grieving family said they would not cremate the body of Gurpreet Singh, unless or until killers are not arrested by the Police. 

This police is known for solving the murder case very quickly. Recently, it arrested the persons who attacked an NRI in Amritsar, over night. However, it is not arresting killers of the Sikh activist. 

It is said that he was returning to home after canvassing for Sarpanch candidate at his village when he was shot dead. 

However, iIt appears that it is not a normal murder. Many questions arise from it. He was active on social media and often expressed his view fearlessly against anti-Sikh forces. To reach out to him, the shooters asked the villagers about him, referring to his Facebook ID.   

“Conspiracy is being hatched to assassinate aides of slain Sikh activist Sandeep Singh aka Deep Sidhu one by one. Bhai Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau who was a prominent leader and cashier of Waris Punjab De organization, was assassinated by hiring gangsters”, said Advocate Simranjit Singh, senior lawyer of Punjab and Haryana High Court. 

He added, “Now, Husandeep Singh Amritsar, who is one of the founder members of the organization, is getting death threats. The Panthic leaders should rise above the groupism and evolve a strategy to stop the murders of the struggling Sikh youths under the patronage of Akal Takht Sahib. They should also expose those who ran away from the Sikh struggle and are playing anti-Sikh roles”. 

As per information, he was the lone breadwinner in his family. He is survived by a child and wife. His parents are very old.  

Prior to this, Bhai Rattandeep Singh was gunned down by unknown bike borne persons at Balachaur town of Nawanshahr district on April 3 this year. He remained associated to Bhindranwala Tiger Force (BTF) and joined the Sikh armed movement in young age. He remained close aide of Khalistan Commondo Force (KCF) chief Bhai Paramjit Singh Panjwar in Pakistan, who was assassinated in Lahore in May in 2023.

A month after Panjwar’s assassination, a prominent face of Sikh freedom movement in Canada, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was shot dead in Surrey. Canadian government accused India of killing the Sikh leader who was head of a gurdwara in Surrey.

Meanwhile, another freedom fighter Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda died under mysterious circumstances. The UK Sikh bodies have evidences that somebody gave him poison in the food and demanded probe of the death, but the UK government which has strong ties with India, did not conducted the probe. Khanda was also on target of Indian intelligence agencies as he was one of the main face of Khalistan movement in UK.