Under him, SAD (A) continued spreading the ideology of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Every year his supporters gather in the sacred Golden Temple and raise pro-Khalistan slogans. He dedicated his 2022 Lok Sabha election victory to the Khalistan separatist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Bhagat Singh In 2007, Mann had called freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, a "petty terrorist". A lawsuit was filed against him, but the prosecution failed to prove its case and he was acquitted by the civil court in 2013. After his release, Mann said, "My acquittal has vindicated my words that Bhagat Singh was a terrorist and not a martyr." In 2015, he objected to naming the Chandigarh airport after Bhagat Singh and called him a terrorist. He had said, "Bhagat Singh is neither a martyr nor a national hero. He is a terrorist. We are against the naming of Chandigarh International airport as Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh Airport." In 2022, he called Bhagat Singh "a terrorist" involved in "terror activities in pre-Independent India". AAP leaders condemned the statement and asked him to apologize. Residents of Khatkar Kalan, Bhagat Singh's native village protested near the Bhagat Singh Museum, shouted slogans of "Death to Simranjit Singh Mann", hit his effigy with shoes and burnt it. General Reginald Dyer In 1919, after General Reginald Dyer's Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Mann's maternal grandfather Arur Singh, then sarbarah (in-charge) of the Golden Temple had honoured General Dyer with a "siropa" at Akal Takht. Singh was a British government appointee. Arur Singh's act hurt Sikh psyche and is considered a "Black chapter" in Sikh history. In July 2022, Mann defended the act of his grandfather saying he did it to pacify Dyer's anger. Electoral performance See also Parkash Singh Badal Captain Amarinder Singh References |- |- |- Living people 1945 births India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 1989–1991 Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India Shiromani Akali Dal politicians People from Shimla Indian Sikhs People from Sangrur district India MPs 2019–present Bishop Cotton School Shimla alumni