A feared Sikh militant leader has been declared a martyr by Sikh religion's highest political body, sparking fears of a revival of militancy that plagued India's northern Punjab state for decades.
The martyrdom was bestowed upon Jarnail Singh Bhindranwala, who with many others was killed during a 1984 Indian army operation, called Operation Blue Star, to flush out militants holed up inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported.
Bhindranwala was one of the key pillars of the militant movement that rocked Punjab in the 1980s and took the life of former prime minister Indira Gandhi who was assassinated by her Sikh security guards after she ordered her forces to storm the temple.
Declaring Bhindranwala a martyr, Sikh religious leader Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti of the Shrimani Gurudwara Prabandhak Commitee (SGPC) -- the Sikh religion's highest political and ideological body, gave a robe of honour to his son Ishar Singh at the Akal Takht in Amritsar.
Families of around 40 important militant leaders who died during Operation Blue Star were also honoured, PTI said.
The move was described as dangerous by former Punjab police chief K.P.S. Gill.
"Way back in the Seventies, I had warned that a militancy would sprout in Punjab but at that time the government dismissed my views. Today, I am getting the same feeling. What is brewing in Punjab is dangerous. Don't play with fire," he said on television.
Gill, who was dubbed "Supercop", was the mastermind behind the destruction of militancy in the Punjab and he frequently faced criticism for human rights violations by policemen during his tenure.