Shaheedi’ memorial to be built at Harike Pattan, says Akal Takht Jathedar amid ‘Satluj’ row

The Akal Takht on Tuesday announced to set up ‘Shaheedi’ memorial at Harike Pattan dedicated to human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and the people whose bodies were disposed of as unclaimed during the period when Punjab was in the grip of militancy.

Takht’s Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj made the announcement after performing a special ‘ardas’ (prayer) for the eternal peace of Khalra and the Sikh youths who were declared missing or became victims of alleged extrajudicial killings and denied proper rites.

“We gather at this spot where countless sons and daughters of Punjab were murdered and their bodies disposed into rivers…From this day onward, this place…will be known as ‘Shaheedi Pattan’,” said Gargajj, the head priest of the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.

“No martyr of our ‘Panth’ is unclaime. Today, the entire Panth remembers martyrs. It is the responsibility of the ‘Panth’ to remember our martyrs. ‘Qaum’ considers Khalra as ‘Qaumi Shaheed’ and will continue to do so,” Gargajj said.

Khalra was abducted from outside his Amritsar home on September 6, 1995, and killed by Punjab Police personnel soon after he exposed the alleged illegal cremations of at least 2,097 “unclaimed” bodies in Amritsar following suspected fake encounters during the militancy era. The Akal Takht had announced the Ardas at Harike Pattan, where Khalra’s body is believed to have been disposed of.

A large number of people had gathered at the site. Among them were family members of several such people who went missing during the militancy period.

The ceremony featured the installation of the Guru Granth Sahib in a special Palki Sahib, recitation of Sri Sukhmani Sahib, and a Gurbani kirtan by Hazoori Ragis led by Bhai Simarpreet Singh of Sachkhand Sri Harmandir Sahib.

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The concluding ardas was personally performed by Gargajj, who recalled the harrowing accounts of young men, women, elderly people and children who were allegedly cremated as “unclaimed” and whose bodies were dumped into the Sutlej, Beas and other waterways. “While all enmity should end after death, the oppressive governments of the time violated fundamental human rights by declaring the bodies of Sikhs and Hindus as ‘unclaimed’ and denying them to their families,” he said.

Apart from directing the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to a ‘Shaheedi Pattan memorial’ at Harike Pattan with the support of the community, Gargajj said that through the gurdwara body, the Akal Takht would prepare a record documenting those who were allegedly “killed as unidentified persons between 1982 and 1995”. He said these records would become part of the official archives of Sri Akal Takht Sahib. “These records will ensure that the sacrifices of our children are not erased and will serve as an enduring testament for future generations,” Gargajj said, stressing the need for accurate archival work to support the quest for truth and justice.

Speaking to the media on the occasion, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said that Khalra fought tirelessly to secure justice for the young Sikhs who were cremated after being declared “unclaimed”.

He claimed that in an attempt to silence the voice of truth, the police abducted Khalra, subjected him to torture, martyred him, and disposed of his body in a river.

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Dhami said that Khalra is a “Panthic martyr” who commands immense respect within the Sikh community. He added that the SGPC would implement the directive issued by the Jathedar to construct a Shaheedi memorial at Harike Pattan, where the names of the “martyrs” would be inscribed.

The gathering at Harike Pattan drew activists, family members of victims, clergy and ordinary devotees who joined the prayers and listened to the announcements. Several speakers underscored the need for continued legal and moral pressure to achieve closure for bereaved families, while community leaders pledged support for the memorial and archival project.

Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu expressed gratitude to the Akal Takht Jathedar for including all those who lost their lives during Punjab’s tragic period of militancy in his ardas.

Before the prayers, Singh Bittu had appealed to the Jathedar to remember all the victims of the violence witnessed in Punjab during the 1990s in his ‘ardas’. “The blood that was shed then did not belong to terrorists alone, nor to the police, nor only to innocent civilians. It was Punjab’s blood. It was the blood of Punjabis…A humble request, Jathedar Sahib: Please remember the human massacre that Punjab witnessed during the 1990s in today’s Ardas,” the minister said, adding the appeal was about “Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat” and not about any single community.

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State BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon, meanwhile, said said the ‘Satluj’ movie controversy must end now, as “reopening these wounds serves no one — Punjab has bled enough and healing takes time”.

In a post on X, he said, “The killings of Punjabis, irrespective of religion, must never be forgotten. Let us honour the memory of our people, not exploit it for noise. I specially appeal to the media to report with responsibility and restraint on this matter — Punjab’s peace comes first”.