Bandi Singhs
Sikh political prisoners and the long campaign for their release.
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- 1987-1993Peak Kharku periodAll major Kharku organizations operational
- Sep 11, 1993Raisina Road car bomb in Delhi and the Bhullar caseA car bomb outside the Youth Congress offices killed nine on 11 Sep 1993; Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar was sentenced to death, and the sentence was commuted in 2014.
- Aug 31, 1995Beant Singh assassinated by Dilawar SinghChief Minister killed by a human bomb at the Chandigarh Secretariat; sources date the end of the armed phase to 1993 or 1995
- Jan 22, 2004Burail Jail escape: four undertrials tunnel outOn the night of 21-22 Jan 2004 four undertrials, three of them accused in the Beant Singh assassination, tunnelled out of the Model Jail at Burail, Chandigarh.
- Apr 22, 2026Supreme Court gives the Centre a last two weeks on Rajoana's mercy pleaAfter deadlines in 2025 passed, the Court told the Centre to file its reply in two weeks on Balwant Singh Rajoana's plea to commute his death sentence, filed through the SGPC in 2012.
- Jul 22, 2026Rajoana writes to the Akal Takht to summon the BJP's Sikh leaders over his mercy petitionBhai Balwant Singh Rajoana asked the acting Jathedar to summon the BJP's Sikh leaders over a mercy petition pending about 15 years, or else have the SGPC withdraw it.
Also in this topic
- AA. G. PerarivalanConvict in the 1991 Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, freed by the Supreme Court in 2022
- AAdvocate Jaspal Singh ManjhpurAdvocate; defence lawyer in UAPA cases and for the Bandi Singhs
- Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De)Sikh political party launched on 14 January 2025 at Sri Muktsar Sahib by supporters of the jailed MP Amritpal Singh, its mukh sewadar. It is not registered with the Election Commission.
- Amritsar Central JailCentral jail in Amritsar where Gurdeep Singh Khera was brought in 2015 and where Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar has been treated since June 2015, while Delhi's review board has refused his release.
- BBarjinder Singh HamdardHead of the Ajit group of newspapers, Jalandhar; former Rajya Sabha member
- BBhai Baldev Singh WadalaFormer Hazoori Ragi at Sri Darbar Sahib; head of Sikh Sadbhawna Dal; founder of Sher-e-Punjab Dal
- BBhai Balwant Singh RajoanaFormer Punjab Police constable; death-row prisoner in the Beant Singh assassination case
- GBhai Gurbaksh Singh KhalsaSikh activist from Kurukshetra; led hunger strikes for the release of Bandi Singhs
- GBhai Gurdeep Singh KheraSikh prisoner (Bandi Singh); convicted under TADA; in custody from 1990
- GBhai Gurmeet SinghBandi Singh; life convict in the 1995 Beant Singh assassination case
- JBhai Jagtar Singh HawaraConvict in the 1995 Beant Singh assassination case; named officiating Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib by the 2015 Sarbat Khalsa; Bandi Singh
- JBhai Jagtar Singh TaraConvict in the Beant Singh assassination case; one of three who escaped Burail jail in 2004
- LBhai Lakhwinder Singh LakhaBandi Singh; life convict in the Beant Singh assassination case; former Punjab Police driver
- LBhai Lal Singh AkalgarhBandi Singh released in 2020 after 28 years; Panthic advocate
- PBhai Paramjit Singh BheoraBandi Singh; life convict in the Beant Singh assassination case; escaped Burail Jail in 2004
- SBhai Shamsher SinghBandi Singh; life convict in the Beant Singh assassination case; truck operator
- WBhai Waryam SinghSikh political prisoner (Bandi Singh), TADA life convict; released 2015 to 2016
- Burail Jail (Model Jail, Chandigarh)Chandigarh's Model Jail, where several Beant Singh assassination convicts are held and from which Hawara, Bheora and Tara escaped by tunnel in January 2004.
- ChandigarhPlanned city and Union Territory, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana since 1966. Its transfer to Punjab, demanded in 1978 and promised in 1985, has never happened.
Guru Hargobind Sahib JiSixth Sikh Guru (1606 to 1644); raised the Akal Takht- HHarmeet Singh KalkaPresident of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (elected January 2022, re-elected June 2025)
- Lawyers for Human Rights International (LFHRI)A Chandigarh lawyers' group that says it formed in 1992 after Punjab police began targeting rights defenders. It campaigns against torture and the death penalty.
Maninderjeet Singh BittaPolitician and critic of the Khalistan movement; former president of the Indian Youth Congress- Mohali (SAS Nagar)Planned city beside Chandigarh named for Sahibzada Ajit Singh; since 7 January 2023 its border with Chandigarh has held the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha's sit-in for the Bandi Singhs.
- Nabha Maximum Security JailMaximum-security prison in Nabha, Punjab, where TADA prisoner Lal Singh was held until August 2020 and from which KLF chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and five others were freed on 27 November 2016.
- NNarendra ModiPrime Minister of India since 26 May 2014; Chief Minister of Gujarat 2001 to 2014; leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party
- Patiala Central JailPunjab jail where Balwant Singh Rajoana, sentenced to death in 2007 for the 1995 killing of Beant Singh, is held while his mercy petition waits and the Supreme Court presses the Centre.
- PProfessor Devinderpal Singh BhullarBandi Singh; former engineering professor in Ludhiana; convicted in the 1993 Raisina Road bombing case
- Qaumi Insaaf MorchaSikh-led protest movement holding a continuous sit-in on the Mohali and Chandigarh border since 7 January 2023 for the release of the Bandi Singhs and justice for the 2015 beadbi cases.
- Sikh Relief (formerly SOPW)UK charity that began as the Sikh Organisation for Prisoner Welfare and helps Sikh prisoners and their families in India. Indian media have alleged links to violence, which it denies.
- Sikh Youth of Punjab (SYP)The youth wing of Dal Khalsa, formed after a general body decision on 8 August 2008; it campaigns on Bandi Singhs, Sikh symbols and student causes.
- Tihar JailDelhi's prison complex: where Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh were hanged on 6 January 1989, Bhullar was held until 2015, and Hawara asked in 2024 to be moved out.
- Why are Bandi Singhs still jailed after completing their sentences?Life terms with no end date, remission by discretion, and a Centre, state and UT chain of who decides. The 2019 promise to free eight, the named cases, and the Panthic answer.