Fagtehgarh Sahib, Punjab: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) recently decided to build a library as a memorial to Bhai Gurbax Singh Hijacker, who had hijacked an Air India plane in 1982.
Gurbax had been jailed for two-and-a-half years for the hijacking. He passed away in 2013.
The decision to set up the memorial at Pakka Kalan village in Bathinda district was taken by the SGPC at its executive committee meeting on Dec. 17 (2014) at Fatehgarh Sahib.
“We will build a library in memory of Gurbax Singh to remember his contribution to the Sikh Panth,” said SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar.
The committee has also decided to give Rs. 1 lakh each to families of eight people who were recently awarded seven-year jail by a Haryana court for clashing with Dera Sacha Sauda supporters.
Plane Hijacking of 1982:
In the early 1980s, fearing hijacking, the Indian government had banned carrying of the kirpan on planes. Then SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra had flayed the government’s decision, saying that a plane could be hijacked even with a toy.
To drive Tohra’s point home, Gurbax Singh had hijacked an Air India plane on August 4, 1982, claiming that he had a ‘bomb’, which was actually a ball made of pieces of cloth. Initially, he decided to take the plane to Lahore, but as the Pakistan authorities did not allow landing, the flight had returned to Amritsar.
Bhai Gurbax Singh had said that he would list his demands in the presence of then Shiromani Akali Dal president Harchand Singh Longowal and then Damdami Taksal chief Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, but he later surrendered in front of then SAD general secretary Parkash Singh Majitha.