Beant Singh assassinated by Dilawar Singh

Who: Victim: Beant Singh (1922-1995), Punjab CM 1992-95, Congress Party. Assassin: Dilawar Singh, BKI-affiliated human bomb (Shaheed). ThePrint names BKI chief Jagtar Singh Hawara and his associate Jagtar Singh Tara as the masterminds, who chose Dilawar Singh and Balwant Singh Rajoana as human bombs. Later convicted: Balwant Singh Rajoana (the back-up bomber; death sentence, July 2007), Hawara (death sentence, July 2007; commuted by the High Court to life imprisonment in October 2010), Tara (life imprisonment till natural death, March 2018), and Lakhwinder Singh Lakha, Gurmeet Singh and Bhai Shamsher Singh (life imprisonment, July 2007; ThePrint; The Tribune, 2012). Paramjit Singh Bheora was charged with them on 30 April 1996 (The Tribune, 2012) and, says The Tribune (February 2023), was awarded a life sentence; the sources opened give no date.

What: A suicide bomber killed Beant Singh at the Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh, at about 5:10 PM on August 31, 1995 (The Tribune, 2012: ready call to the convoy at 5:05 PM, blast five minutes later; 1984 Tribute: 5.13 PM). Dilawar Singh, wearing an explosive belt, approached the CM's car as it left the Secretariat. The blast killed:

• Beant Singh (Punjab CM).
• Dilawar Singh (suicide bomber; Shaheed in Panthic memory).
• Sixteen or seventeen others, depending on the report: ThePrint and The Tribune (2012, 2018, 2019, February 2026) say 16 besides the Chief Minister; the BBC (2012) and The Tribune (2024, April 2026) say 17. ThePrint adds that at least 15 were injured.

Where: Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh.

Why it mattered: Sources differ on whether the killing ended the armed phase of the Kharku sangharsh. English Wikipedia dates the insurgency from 1 June 1984 to 31 August 1995 and calls the killing the last major incident, but also says the insurgency had "petered out" by 1993. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (2002) quotes three informants: the Institute for Conflict Management's executive director ("Terrorism in Punjab had been comprehensively defeated by [the] end [of] 1993"), a Birmingham professor of theology ("the militant movement was all but crushed by early 1993") and a Punjab Home Department official ("no militant activities in Punjab since 1991 except the killing of Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995").

Beant Singh's role: Beant Singh was sworn in as Chief Minister on 25 February 1992, and DGP KPS Gill headed the Punjab Police from 1991 until 1995 (The Tribune, 2024 and 2017). Beant Singh backed his police force amid the criticism of rights activists and the media (The Tribune, 2024). Jaswant Singh Khalra and Jaspal Singh Dhillon estimated that 25,000 bodies had been disposed of in crematoria across Punjab (Mallika Kaur, Scroll, 2020; no years given).

Dilawar Singh's Shaheed status: Dilawar Singh (born 18 August 1970 according to 1984 Tribute and Wikipedia, so 25 years old at his death) gave his life in the blast. ThePrint says the masterminds chose him; 1984 Tribute says he sought out the Babbar Khalsa himself. On 23 March 2012 the Akal Takht Jathedar declared him a national martyr (Qaumi Shaheed) (The Tribune). In 2022 the SGPC president, Harjinder Singh Dhami, said he "put an end to the atrocities and gross human right violations committed against the Sikhs"; an unnamed former SGPC official said murder was condemnable (ThePrint). The Congress says those convicted should serve their full sentences (ThePrint, 2019).

Rajoana's continuing detention: Balwant Singh Rajoana, the back-up suicide bomber (the second, had Dilawar Singh's mission failed), has been in prison since 1995. Reports differ on his death sentence. The Tribune (30 September 2019, citing sources) said the Home Ministry had approved commuting it to life; ThePrint (9 October 2019) wrote that the Centre had commuted it "last week". Neither describes a formal order, but The Tribune (February 2023) says the Centre later issued a notification. The Tribune (April 2026) says the SGPC's mercy petition of March 25, 2012 is still undecided after more than 13 years: the Home Ministry told the Supreme Court it could not consider it because the SGPC, not Rajoana, filed it, and on 22 April 2026 the Court gave the Centre two weeks. LiveLaw (March 2023) reports Home Minister Amit Shah telling the Lok Sabha that Rajoana had not been freed from death row; LawBeat reports that the Court listed his plea for 28 October 2026. ThePrint adds that Rajoana neither hired an advocate nor moved a mercy petition himself, and wrote to the High Court asking for his sentence to be carried out.

After 1995: The Institute for Conflict Management told the Board (2002) that the Khalistan Commando Force-Panjwar, Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Zindabad Force and International Sikh Youth Federation were based in Pakistan and occasionally active, mostly in propaganda in Western countries, and that "none of these groups retains the capabilities of any wider campaign of intimidation". The professor reported only isolated arrests of Babbar Khalsa and Khalistan Commando Force members.