Singla, a self-styled right-wing leader at odds with radicals
PATIALA: The self-styled Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) leader Harish Singla, who has been arrested for the Patiala violence on Friday, is among Punjab’s Hindu right-wing leaders who remain at the forefront to oppose the Sikh radicals and Khalistani sympathisers.
Belonging to a middle-class family with no political background, Singla has been provided security by the Punjab Police in view of threat to his life owing to the anti-Khalistan stand. This security cover, which has been gradually reduced, has in fact become his status symbol.
Singla, who is in his 50s, is one of main Dussehra organisers in Patiala, and even former chief minister Captain Amrinder Singh and other high-profile politicians visit his Dussehra celebrations.
Throughout the year, most of his time is spent on collecting funds for this event from every nook and cranny of the city , other than organising anti-Khalistan and anti-Pakistan events.
To counter events that fete Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale or former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassins, Singla also organises remembrance events for former army chief General AS Vaidya, who was assassinated by Sikh militants to avenge the Operation Bluestar.
A cow vigilante, Singla has filed several police complaints against animal traders for alleged cow smuggling. He also stops such vehicles carrying cattle and holds protests. He recently even joined protests organised by parents to oppose fee hike by some private schools.
“Singla has no political stature, except for his acts that have been drawing the ire of Sikh radicals. He is doing all this to get security cover, which has become his status symbol,” said a leader close to him, on the condition of anonymity.
Though the Shiv Sena’s Punjab unit president, Yograj Sharma, issued a letter expelling him from the party for the Patiala violence, Singla has maintained that Sharma has no authority over him. “There are several Shiv Senas in Punjab, but mine is different... No one has the right to expel me from my own party,” he said.
SINGLA HAS BEEN PROVIDED SECURITY BY THE PUNJAB POLICE IN VIEW OF THREAT TO HIS LIFE OWING TO THE ANTIKHALISTAN STAND