Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj, who holds the officiating position at the Akal Takht, conferred the designation of "shaheed" — a term carrying the meaning of martyr — upon anti-drug campaigner Parvinder Singh Jhota during a Friday address. A fatal shooting claimed Jhota's life in Mansa on 13 October.
Giani Tek Singh, the jathedar of Takhat Damdama Sahib, travelled alongside Gargaj to the home of the grieving family in Mansa, where both offered their condolences in person. During the visit, Gargaj conferred upon Parvinder a designation described as "martyr of Sikh qaum." A prayer for Parvinder was recited by Gargaj as part of the ardas observance held in his memory.
Bhim Singh, a former serviceman and father of the slain anti-drug campaigner, attended alongside other relatives. Speaking at the ardas, the Akal Takht jathedar described a situation in which Punjab's young people were losing their lives to drug use, while those who had spoken out against it were being killed, adding that Parvinder Singh had lost his life in the course of opposing the drug trade.
The jathedar stated that Parvinder had pursued advocacy for Punjab's youth, setting aside whatever alternatives had been available to him. He remarked that while physical existence can be taken away, the ideas a person holds cannot be extinguished in the same manner.
The jathedar took issue with a Punjab minister's reported characterisation of the killing as stemming from "personal enmity" between those involved. Giani Gargaj described the state government's characterisation of the killing as a personal dispute as an attempt to diminish the significance of Parvinder's actions and sacrifice, calling the official statement a matter of deep shame.
The jathedar questioned whether suspending the SHO constituted a sufficient response to the matter, indicating that the administration's steps taken up to that point had not met his expectations. He added that holding only the station house officer to account would fall short of what is needed, calling instead for responsibility to be distributed across every level of the hierarchy tasked with curbing drug trafficking.
Giani Gargaj also addressed those who sought to frame the episode as a rift between Hindu and Sikh communities, pushing back on that characterisation and stating instead that residents across Punjab's various communities share a common front in confronting the drug problem. Authorities were urged to pinpoint and respond to individuals working to stoke tension between communities. Giani Gargaj stated that attempts to stir division along communal lines in Punjab would not be permitted to take hold.
During the address, he asked for divine intervention to lend strength and favourable results to the anti-drug campaign Parvinder Singh had launched, and to sustain the family's continued push for justice. Addressing Parvinder Singh's two sons directly, the Akal Takht jathedar urged them to hold firm in their grief and conveyed that the people of Punjab would stand alongside the family in this time of loss. He added that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee would take on the treatment costs of everyone hurt in the episode.
