Neel Kamal
BATHINDA: The son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of Indira Gandhi, is drawing impressive crowds in Punjab‘s Faridkot Lok Sabha constituency, where he is contesting as an Independent.
On Monday – which happened to be the 60th death anniversary of Indira’s father Jawaharlal Nehru – Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, 45, was greeted with slogans like “Amar shaheed da putt (Son of Sikh martyr)” and “Beant Singh amar rahe (Long live the memory of Beant Singh)” when his motorcade of cars and bikes reached Bhairupa village.
In 1984, Sarabjit’s father, SI Beant Singh, and Satwant Singh, the two bodyguards of Indira, had assassinated her at her residence in Delhi. Both were sentenced to death.
Nearly forty years later, Beant Singh’s son’s campaign – woven around the narrative that the then govt’s military action on Akal Takht in the first week of June 1984 was ‘avenged’ – is finding a lot of appeal among rural voters, with village after village inviting him over.
In Rampura Phul, youths braved the 44o heat to line up the route that the motorcade took to shower Sarabjit with flower petals. He stopped at several villages along the way to lap up this adulation.
Sarabjit’s supporters include Sukhraj Singh, whose father, Krishan Bhagwan Singh, was among those killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan on Oct 14, 2015, while protesting sacrilege incidents at Bargari. “Punjab’s polling day of June 1 has worked for Sarabjit, since it is associated with the 1984 military action at Golden Temple. The day will remind Sikhs of the past injustices when they go out to vote,” Sukhraj said.
On Monday – which happened to be the 60th death anniversary of Indira’s father Jawaharlal Nehru – Sarabjit Singh Khalsa, 45, was greeted with slogans like “Amar shaheed da putt (Son of Sikh martyr)” and “Beant Singh amar rahe (Long live the memory of Beant Singh)” when his motorcade of cars and bikes reached Bhairupa village.
In 1984, Sarabjit’s father, SI Beant Singh, and Satwant Singh, the two bodyguards of Indira, had assassinated her at her residence in Delhi. Both were sentenced to death.
Nearly forty years later, Beant Singh’s son’s campaign – woven around the narrative that the then govt’s military action on Akal Takht in the first week of June 1984 was ‘avenged’ – is finding a lot of appeal among rural voters, with village after village inviting him over.
In Rampura Phul, youths braved the 44o heat to line up the route that the motorcade took to shower Sarabjit with flower petals. He stopped at several villages along the way to lap up this adulation.
Sarabjit’s supporters include Sukhraj Singh, whose father, Krishan Bhagwan Singh, was among those killed in police firing at Behbal Kalan on Oct 14, 2015, while protesting sacrilege incidents at Bargari. “Punjab’s polling day of June 1 has worked for Sarabjit, since it is associated with the 1984 military action at Golden Temple. The day will remind Sikhs of the past injustices when they go out to vote,” Sukhraj said.