Sikh leader survives assassination attempt at popular Indian shrine

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) – A prominent Sikh leader in northern India on Wednesday survived an assassination attempt after a man fired at him outside the Golden Temple in Punjab state.

Sukhbir Singh Badal, a senior leader of Shiromani Akali Dal, a Sikh-centric political party in the state, was present outside the temple performing duty of a volunteer as part of religious punishment awarded to him by the head of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikh faith.

Badal and other leaders from the party were awarded punishment by Akal Takht over the “mistakes” made by their government in Punjab state from 2007 to 2017.

Television footage showed an old aged man going near Badal and firing shots at him. The attacker was, however, overpowered and caught on the spot.

Local English daily The Indian Express identified the attacker as a former militant Narain Singh Chaura, also a member of the now-inactive militant group Khalistan Liberation Army.

A section of India's Sikh religious community launched the Khalistan movement in the late 1970s in order to establish a separate homeland in the northern Punjab region. While Sikh secessionism in India has died down, pro-secession groups have become active internationally.