An Almanac From Khalistan

Come Baisakhi and Sikhs will have their new Nanakshahi calendar. It has been approved by the general house of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee and other prominent Sikh organisations last fortnight. The implementation of the new calendar, drafted by Canada-based Pal Singh Purewal, will be contentious as it proposes holidays for the birth anniversaries of Indira Gandhi’s assassins Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh. Also, holidays are marked for the birth anniversaries of Sukhdev Singh and Harjinder Singh Jinda—Gen Vaidya’s killers. The calendar identifies them as ‘martyrs’. It also declares three holidays in June to mourn Operation Bluestar.