Harbans Lal Khanna (died in 1984) was a BJP MLA and president of its Amritsar district branch in Punjab, India.
His killing comes with a backdrop when Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale[1] and his followers started Dharam Yudh Morcha.[2] Bhindranwale was known to lead anti-smoking drives.[3] So, Khanna started doing the opposite by leading pro-tobacco marches. One of the marches claimed "...bidi piyenge hum Shaan se jiyenge.”(We'll smoke cigarettes and live in pride)[4]
While leading a procession against the Sikh effort to have holy city status granted to Amritsar,[5] he had released slogans there on 30 May 1981, "Dukki tikki khehan nahin deni, sir te pagri rehan nahin deni; kachh, kara, kirpaan; ehnoon bhejo Pakistan." ("We are not going to let any second or third group exist, we are not going to let a turban remain on any head; the shorts, the iron bangle, the sword, send these to Pakistan").[5] [6]
On 14 February 1984, mobs led by Khanna gathered at as many as 56 places in Amritsar to engage in anti-Sikh desecrations. At the Amritsar Railway Station, a model of the Golden Temple was destroyed. A picture of Ram Das, the fourth Sikh guru, which had been on display for several years, was defaced beyond recognition, with feces and lit cigarettes rubbed into it.[7] Carrying some of the pieces of the replica away, some Sikhs swore revenge.[7]
He was shot by Sikh rebels in retaliation[7] on April 2, 1984.[8] The responsibility for the assassination was quickly claimed by a Sikh militant organization, the Dashmesh Regiment. After the assassination, there were clashes between Sikhs and Hindus resulting in a Hindu temple being burned to the ground. [9] Surinder Singh Sodhi, Jarnail Singh’s right hand man, has been accused of being the killer and so has Labh Singh.[10] [11]