June 7, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1424

NEW DELHI, June 6: A dead Sikh militant leader was on Friday declared a “martyr” by Sikh religion’s highest political body, sparking fears of a revival of militancy that plagued East Punjab for decades.

The “martyrdom” was bestowed upon Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala, who with many others was killed during a 1984 Indian army operation, called Operation Blue Star, to flush out militants holed up inside Amritsar’s Golden Temple.

Bhindranwala was one of the key pillars of the militant movement that rocked East Punjab in the 1980s and took the life of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Declaring Bhindranwala a martyr, Sikh religious leader Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti of the Shrimani Gurudwara Prabandhak Commitee (SGPC) gave a robe of honour to his son, Ishar Singh, at the Akal Takht in Amritsar.

Families of around 40 important militant leaders who died during Operation Blue Star were also honoured.

The move was described as dangerous by a former East Punjab police chief, K.P.S. Gill.

“Way back in the seventies, I had warned that a militancy would sprout in (East) Punjab, but at that time the government dismissed my views. Today, I am getting the same feeling. What is brewing in Punjab is dangerous. Don’t play with fire,” he said on television.—AFP