Kanwarpal Singh
ਕੰਵਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ
Long-time spokesperson of Dal Khalsa, who says he relaunched the organisation above ground on 6 August 1998 and who started the June 1984 martyrs directory.
Kanwarpal Singh, whose name some outlets print as Kanwarpal Singh Bittu, is the spokesperson of Dal Khalsa, the Sikh organisation that campaigns for Sikh sovereignty. Dal Khalsa's name was announced in Chandigarh on 13 August 1978. The World Sikh News says its first major protest demanded the release of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, but gives no date for it. Bhindranwale was arrested on 20 September 1981. On 29 September 1981 Dal Khalsa members hijacked an Indian Airlines flight to Lahore, with his release among their demands (The Tribune).
In a 2018 interview he said he re-launched the body on 6 August 1998, with the encouragement of Simranjit Singh Mann, Prof. Jagmohan Singh, Prof. Sukhjinder Singh and Bhai Narain Singh. The World Sikh News called him the organisation's sheet anchor. He said a Sikh is "either a sovereign or a rebel" and called for a referendum on Punjab's sovereignty under United Nations auspices (The World Sikh News).
- 26 January 2005: the Sarkar-e-Khalsa flag was hoisted in Amritsar. The first information report at Islamabad police station named Dal Khalsa president Harcharanjit Singh Dhami and Kanwar Pal Singh, as Sikh Siyasat News spelled it, among others, under sections 124-A, 153-B and 120-B. The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the sedition and conspiracy charges against 19 Dal Khalsa leaders and activists in October 2009.
- 5 June 2012: Dal Khalsa released the third extended edition of its directory of 220 Sikhs killed in June 1984, in Amritsar. Kanwarpal Singh initiated it, said a team led by Sarbjit Singh Ghuman did the research, and said some of the dead were still unidentified by place, date or manner of death.
- December 2017: as spokesperson he gave Sikh Siyasat News the account of how Dal Khalsa president Harpal Singh Cheema was held at Delhi airport and had his passport confiscated.
- April 2026: at a Dal Khalsa seminar in Rayya he said the state and governments protect those behind the Beadbi and that Sikhs must recognise their own responsibilities.
He is remembered as the voice through which Dal Khalsa states its positions, and as the man behind the first directory of the June 1984 Shaheeds. His political positions are his own and the organisation's; the sources here record them as statements, not findings.
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Sources
- Dal Khalsa's forty year struggle for Sikh sovereignty, The World Sikh News. theworldsikhnews.com
- Sedition charges against Dal Khalsa leaders for holding Sarkar-e-Khalsa flag quashed (21 Oct 2009), Sikh Siyasat News. sikhsiyasatnews.net
- Third extended edition of June 1984 Martyrs Directory released (7 Jun 2012), Sikh Siyasat News. sikhsiyasatnews.net
- Dal Khalsa chief passport confiscated upon return from UN genocide conference (2 Dec 2017), Asia Samachar. asiasamachar.com
- State and government protect those behind the Beadbi: Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh (20 Apr 2026), Sikh Siyasat News. sikhsiyasatnews.net
- 36 yrs after plane hijacking, two Sikh militants face trial (Satya Prakash, 19 Jul 2017; Bhindranwale's arrest on 20 September 1981 and the hijacking of 29 September 1981), The Tribune. tribuneindia.com