Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

630 • SIKH MILITANTSSatnam Singh Paonta, to be elected president of the group on 2 October2005. The organization is estimated to have had between 500and 1,000 members and has carried out its activities largely withinIndia, although it also has a branch in the United States. The AISSF,with 40,000 members, was banned in March 1984, but the ban waslifted one year later.3. Dashmesh Regiment: The Tenth Regiment is reputed to be aSikh militant group that aims to establish an independent nation-stateof Khalistan as a homeland for the Sikhs in present-day Punjab andadjoining Punjabi-speaking areas. This group has been credited withthe assassinations of prominent individuals, including other Sikhs,who have criticized the cause of Khalistan. Groups using this andother names have also terrorized Hindus living in, or traveling within,their designated area of Khalistan and have engaged in at least onebombing of a commercial air carrier. The name Dashmesh means“tenth,” referring to the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh,who transformed the Sikhs into a warrior society.Knowledge about the origins, composition, and leadership of theDashmesh regiment is fragmentary and conjectural. Unlike the DalKhalsa or the AISSF, this group has no history prior to the onsetof secessionist troubles in the state of Punjab, and some observerswithin India have concluded that it is a phantom group, a name beingused to hide the culpability of those actually responsible for terroristactions or to throw outsiders off their scent.It is believed the group was founded in 1984 with the blessing ofSant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a Sikh fundamentalist leader whobecame closely identified with the Khalistan idea (see above, 2. DalKhalsa): As Bhindranwale was also closely associated with the bannedDal Khalsa and AISSF groups, it is likely that if the Dashmesh Regimentexists, it has drawn its leaders and members from these groups orfrom the immediate circle of Bhindranwale’s followers.On 28 March 1984 the Regiment claimed credit for the shootingdeath of Harbans Singh Manchanda, a pro-Congress overseerof the New Delhi Sikh temple. A letter purportedly written by theDashmesh Regiment addressed to the Indian Express in April 1984threatened to assassinate Indira Gandhi. On 14 April 1984 Sikh extremistsattempted to burn down at least 34 railroad stations, actionscredited to the Regiment. The Regiment also claimed credit for theshooting death on 12 May 1984 of Ramesh Chander, editor of the