Eighteen years after Punjab’s former Chief Minister Beant Singh was assassinated in a terrorist attack in 1995, the Postal Department has decided to issue a commemorative stamp to observe his martyrdom.
The stamp would be released by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi in the first week of the September.
The decision was taken after a request was made by Beant Singh’s family to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“We have been informed by the Prime Minister Office about the release of the stamp in the first week of September,” said Beant Singh’s grandson and MlA Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
Beant Singh, hailing from Payal area of ludhiana district, was instrumental in wiping out militancy in Punjab when he became the Chief Minister in 1992 — when the militancy was at its peak in Punjab.
The slain Congress leader gave a free hand to the then Director General of Punjab Police (DGP) KPS Gill to eliminate militancy in the State, who was able to finish the menace from the border State.
Meanwhile, Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwarpal Singh, in a statement, took strong exception to the release of stamp on Beant Singh’s 18th death anniversary as it tantamount to rubbing salt on the simmering wounds of the Sikh people.