SGPC honours kin of General AS Vaidya's killers

AMRITSAR: In a controversial move, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Wednesday honoured the kin of two terrorists who had killed ex-Army chief General AS Vaidya two years after Operation Bluestar, close on the heels of September 30 attack in London on Lt. Gen (retd) KS Brar.

SGPC hailed Gen Vaidya's killers at a function in the Golden Temple. It offered religious prayers and honoured the kin of Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha of the Khalistan Commando Force.

The event was organised at the Golden Temple complex here to observe the death anniversaries of the two terrorists. SGPC presented "siropas' (robe of honour) to Jinda's brother Bhupinder Singh and Sukha's kin Surjit Kaur after the prayers. The ceremony is held annually here.

Jinda and Sukha shot dead Vaidya in Pune in 1986 to seek revenge for the Operation Bluestar, the Army operation in June 1984 to flush out terrorists holed up in the Golden Temple complex, which is the holiest of Sikh shrines.

The heavily armed terrorists, led by separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, were holed up inside the shrine complex for months on. Vaidya was the Army chief when the operation was carried out. He settled in Pune after retirement. He was accompanied by only one securityman when the attack took place.

Jinda and Sukha were later arrested and tried for the killing of Vaidya. They were sentenced to death and hanged in 1992.

Later in the day, home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in New Delhi the Centre cannot stop a memorial from coming up inside the Golden Temple, but only advice the Punjab government and SGPC to "introspect" on their decision to allow the memorial.