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The armed forces contingent appeared in front of a giant “Honouring our Fallen” poster accompanied by photographs of Sikh soldiers during the two world wars.

But nearby was a large poster of prominent Sikh militants who died during the Indian army’s raid on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984. A picture of the ceremony with that in the background was published in The Province.

Wearing a blue turban in the poster was Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the leader of the separatist Sikh militants who died during the Amritsar raid.

Another militant whose poster is featured to this day in the temple, but which was not captured in photographs sent to The Sun, is the late Talwinder Singh Parmar. Parmar was the B.C.-based mastermind behind the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing that was conducted in retaliation for the Golden Temple raid.

Temple President Davinder Singh Grewal, who confirmed that his temple has long displayed a poster honouring Parmar, rejected on Friday the notion that the posters at the 2011 event were glorifying terrorists.

“They are freedom fighters,” he said, adding Parmar was never convicted before he was killed in India in 1992.

However, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Josephson, in a 2005 acquittal of two Sikh leaders charged in the Air India bombing, noted that both the Crown and defence accepted that Parmar was the plot mastermind.

At the time of the temple event, Sajjan had just been appointed commander of the reserve B.C. Regiment. Sajjan, a former Vancouver policeman, was decorated for achievements during three tours as a soldier in Afghanistan, was also featured as a role model in the Conservative government’s “Welcome to Canada” handbook for new immigrants.

Sajjan confirmed in an interview that he attended the event, but said it was no coincidence that photographers didn’t capture him near the posters. “I did not take part in those pictures because I didn’t think it was appropriate.”

Documents from Nicholson’s office make it clear that Sajjan was under orders to attend the event, and that he warned his superior officer after arrival that his men shouldn’t appear near the militant posters.

Sajjan also advised his colleagues to do the same, but that advice was rejected, said the the letter, which also cleared him of faulty decision-making.