Kairon assassination

Who: Victim: Partap Singh Kairon (former Punjab CM). Convicted of the killing: Sucha Singh, Baldev Singh and Nahar Singh. A fourth man, Daya Singh, was arrested only in 1972 (The Tribune, 2020).

What: Kairon was shot dead on 6 February 1965 on the Grand Trunk Road near Rasoi village, Haryana, while travelling from Delhi. His personal assistant, an IAS officer and his driver were killed with him (ThePrint; Wikipedia). ThePrint says Sucha Singh, Baldev Singh and Nahar Singh followed his car and opened fire when the chance came; The Tribune puts the spot near Rai, Sonepat.

Trial: On 6 June 1969 the Additional Sessions Judge at Rohtak sentenced Sucha Singh, Baldev Singh and Nahar Singh to death, rejecting a defence plea that the killing was political and the accused wrongly implicated (The Tribune's archive). The Punjab and Haryana High Court confirmed the sentences on 21 September 1970, one of its judges holding that the prosecution had not proved the involvement of any of the three, and on 29 January 1971 refused them a certificate to appeal to the Supreme Court. ThePrint says the three were hanged in 1969; Wikipedia says 1970.

Where: Grand Trunk Road near Rasoi, Haryana.

Why it mattered: Kairon was chief minister of Punjab from 1956 to 1964 (The Tribune), and the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism credits his land consolidation laws with laying the ground for the 1960s farm boom. Reasons given for his killing:

• Revenge, the motive in ThePrint and Wikipedia: Sucha Singh believed Kairon had personally pushed for the conviction of Ajit Singh and his father Bir Singh in a murder case.
• A political conspiracy, alleged by Kairon's family: his son Gurinder Singh Kairon's book describes a rivalry with Devi Lal and questions Devi Lal's closeness to Daya Singh. Devi Lal's family calls this absurd and says the rivalry was political, not personal (The Tribune, 2020).
• A political killing, as the defence argued at the trial. The judge rejected this.

Broader context: Kairon resigned as CM in June 1964, after the Das Commission reported on allegations against him. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says it exonerated him of the bulk of them; ThePrint says he resigned after it charge-sheeted him. Devi Lal's son Ranjit Singh says his father sent the President a memorandum against Kairon's corruption in 1962, which led to the inquiry (The Tribune, 2020).

Panthic primary framing: Panthic historical memory treats Kairon as a contested figure: Sikh-background politician who worked against Panthic sovereignty demands. The assassination itself is not commemorated in Panthic tradition (unlike Sikh Shaheeds).