Jasbir Singh Rode

Jasbir Singh Rode is a nephew of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and a former Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib. He was 35 when he took that office (The Tribune).

• 1985: he was deported from England. He went on to Thailand and the Philippines and was arrested in New Delhi, and was held in solitary confinement until 4 March 1988 (The Tribune).
• March 1988: while he was still in jail, a Sarbat Khalsa organised by the Damdami Taksal named him Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib. He took the post on 9 March 1988 and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) removed him on 28 May 1988 (The Tribune).
• After his removal he left for Dubai and later re-emerged in the United Kingdom, where, the Tribune says, he formed the International Sikh Youth Federation, now banned in India.
• 24 June 2017: with Ishar Singh, a son of Bhindranwale, he asked the SGPC executive at Anandpur Sahib to expel chief secretary Harcharan Singh, accusing him of victimising SGPC employees close to the Bhindranwale family and the Damdami Taksal (Newslaundry).
• August 2021: the Tribune reported that the National Investigation Agency and the Intelligence Bureau raided his home in Jalandhar, reportedly recovered an explosive device and arrested his son. Officials had not confirmed it, and there were unconfirmed claims linking the case to his brother Lakhbir Singh Rode, who was reported to be in Pakistan. Rode said no device was recovered and that his son was being framed.
• April 2023: he was the priest of the gurdwara outside which Amritpal Singh was arrested, and was heading a panel named by Sri Akal Takht Sahib to coordinate with the families of detained youths. He denied persuading Amritpal Singh to surrender, as police had claimed, and said Amritpal Singh was arrested in his presence after addressing a small gathering. Former MP Tarlochan Singh called it a "well-orchestrated plan by government agencies with Rode playing a mediator", which is his opinion; the SGPC did not comment (The Tribune).
• December 2023: he confirmed to the Tribune the reported death of his brother Lakhbir Singh Rode in Pakistan, saying the family had only the information it had received from there (The Tribune).

He is remembered as the Bhindranwale nephew who held Sri Akal Takht Sahib briefly in 1988, and as a figure who has stayed in Panthic public life since.