President on 2 October (2005) at a convention held in Chandigarh. In addition to Satnam Singh Paonta being chosen as the new leader of the Dal Khalsa, the organization welcomed Jaspal Singh Dhillon, head of the Human Rights and Democracy Forum into the party fold as its new vice President. The new senior leadership of the Dal Khalsa had pledged that it will continue to deploy peaceful methods to achieve an independent Khalistan but will also take up other socio-political issues faced by the people of Punjab such as education for rural children and tackling the menace of drug abuse. However, the primary objective of the Dal Khalsa would remain the same and that it will not divert from its original and main goal of establishing an independent and sovereign Khalistan. In June 2005, the Dal Khalsa became a constituent member of the Punjab Rights Forum. Currently H.S. Dhami is the president of Dal Khalsa, and Kanwarpal Singh is the secretary general. Mr Dhami, 58 who hails from Hoshiarpur is industrialist by profession. He did M.S.C in 1975 from DAV College, Jalandhar and it was the writings and revolutionary poetry of Gajinder Singh that inspired him to join the organization in 2003. In May 2006 the Vice-President of the Dal Khalsa, Jaspal Singh Dhillon, paid a visit to London, UK where he had been invited to attend and deliver a speech on Self-determination for Khalistan at the inaugural launch and conference of a new lobby group called Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination (PNSD) which was held on 11 May at the British Parliament in Westminster. The Dal Khalsa has sought to work closely with Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination in which the Sikh Nation is one of the founder members. Recent activity In February 2007 the Dal Khalsa broke from its earlier stance regarding the Punjab state legislature by supporting two candidates in the Punjab polls, most notably SGPC member Karnail Singh Panjoli. During the Punjab legislative assembly elections the Dal Khalsa also supported candidates from the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by Simranjit Singh Mann. In September, 2008, Dal Khalsa named the expatriate Sikh leader Manmohan Singh vice president. Singh had already been placed on an Indian government blacklist for past militant activities. On 3 November 2009, marking 25 years of the anti-Sikh massacre following the assassination of then PM Indira Gandhi, Dal Khalsa called for Punjab Bandh. In showing solidarity