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Babbar Khalsa International logo

Babbar Khalsa International logo variation

Babbar Khalsa is the oldest and most prominent Sikh freedom fighting organisation and is one of many Sikh groups operating for the formation of an independent Sikh state called Khalistan (meaning Land of the Pure) from Indian territory in the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Like other Sikh freedom fighting organisations, the Babbar Khalsa was most active in the 1970s and 1980s, although sporadic events are still attributed to it. It is sponsored by expatriate Sikhs, particularly in the United Kingdom and Canada as well as Sikh groups within India. The Babbar Khalsa traces its origin to the Babbar Akali Movement of 1920, which agitated against British colonial rule in India. The conception of Babbar Khalsa in its modern day form is widely believed to have been brought about as a result of the Nirankari-Akhand Kirtani Jatha clash on Vaisakhi in 1978. Babbar Khalsa International was founded in 1980 by Talwinder Singh Parmar. The Nirankaris were a sect who claimed to be Sikh yet broke many fundamental laws of Sikhism. However, their greatest insult to the Sikh faith in the eyes of many was their assertion of an eleventh human Guru. The killing of 13 Sikhs of Akhand Kirtani Jatha at the hands of the Nirankaris and the subsequent lack of judicial action outraged many Sikhs and retaliation followed on April 24, 1980, with the slaying of Gurbacharan Singh, the self-styled "Baba" of the Nirankaris. This killing was claimed by Babbar Khalsa and thus the modern day freedom fighting organisation was born. Shaheed Bhai Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Shaheed Bhal Talwinder Singh Parmar were the most prominent founding members of this organisation, with Shaheedi Talwinder Singh Parmar taking over foreign duties in the guise of Babbar Khalsa International and Shaheed Sukhdev Singh Babbar handling matters within India. Shaheed Talwinder Singh Parmar later left, forming his own faction (Babbar Khalsa Parmar) when he fellout with the BKI leadership. The schism greatly weakened the Babbar Khalsa, ultimately leading to the death of Shaheed Sukhdev Singh Babbar (August 9 1992) and Shaheed Talwinder Singh Parmar (October 15 1992). Parmar's death remains controversial, with Canada's CBC network reporting that Parmar had been in police custody for some time prior to his death, lending credence to those who claim Parmar was tortured and murdered before his execution at the hands of Punjab police in a "fake encounter". According to Punjab Police, the last words uttered by Shaheed Sukhdev Singh Babbar were: "The Sukhdev Singh you have come to get has left, this body is an empty vessel, you may do with this as you wish." The death of Shaheed Sukhdev Singh Babbar, described by India Today as “the most prominent militant leader since 1978” who had “an aura of invincibility”, severely weakened the Babbar Khalsa and had a knock-on effect with regards to the Sikh struggle. Despite the setbacks incurred in the early Nineties, Babbar Khalsa is still active, although not to the extent it once was. The organisation at present is predominantly active in the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and Pakistan. The Parmar faction has a presence in the UK, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Following the terrible events of 9/11, the Babbar Khalsa was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Kingdom, along with other active groups including the International Sikh Youth Federation. Current leadership resides with Bhai Wadhawa Singh Babbar. There was dispute amongBabbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara was Wednesday moved to the same prison from where he had escaped over ... Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara was Wednesday moved to the same prison from where he had escaped over 18 months ago.Hawara was sent to the Burail prison here by a local court.He had been in the custody of Chandigarh police for nearly a month after he was handed over by Delhi Police in early July.For nearly a month, Hawara was kept in a high-security lock-up of the operations cell of Chandigarh police, with sharpshooters manning all corners of the complex.Hawara had made a sensational escape from the high-security Burail prison Jan 21 last year along with two Sikh terrorists and another convict by digging a 108-foot tunnel from his secured barrack.Delhi Police nabbed him from the outskirts of Patiala city June 8.Police officers said security in and around the Burail prison had been substantially beefed up after Hawara was brought there Wednesday.He is being kept in a special barrack in isolation from all other prisoners, including pro-Khalistan Sikh terrorists being tried for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. The trial of Hawara and others in that case is being held inside the prison since 1996. Guards gave been posted outside Hawara's barrack with police and prison authorities are taking no chances.A police officer said Hawara would be taken to New Delhi Thursday in connection with his appearance in court for another case.Several jail officials who were in charge of Burail prison when Hawara and others escaped last year are no longer there. Some of them have been dismissed from service, while others were suspended and some transferred.some Babbar Khalsa supporters that some wanted Jagtar Singh Hawara to lead the Babbar Khalsa rather than having it under the leardership of Wadhwa Singh Babbar. Although its activites were severely curtailed after 1992, the Babbar Khalsa is still capable of causing damage and hitting political targets. For example, on August 31, 1995, Dilawar Singh Babbar, assassinated Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh at the civil secretariat in Chandigarh during a suicide bombing in response to Beant Singh's heavy handed tactics in bringing about an end to the Sikh freedom struggle. These tactics, as reported by Amnesty International, involved the widespread use of torture, rape, extra-judicial killings and unreported cremations. Although the Sikh freedom struggle has temporarily abated, widespread concern in Indian police circles about its emergence remains. Lingering discontent coupled with decades old Sikh greivances ensure significant sympathy among the Sikh population in Punjab. The recent emigration of Hindu non-Punjabi work migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has strengthened the hand of the Sikh freedom fighting organisations. Furthermore, the romance and allure of the Sikh freedom fighting organisations, particularly the Babbar Khalsa, remains strong abroad. The demand for Khalistan enjoys an increasing undercurrent of support, especially in Sikh youth outside of Punjab. Sikh communities in Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom have been particularly instrumental in keeping this issue alive. In the United Kingdom, support for Khalistan has spilt over into the formation of other Sikh groups, for example, the formation of Shere Punjab, originating in Southall, Hayes and Hounslow in West London. Sikh militant attacks included assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings. Despite protests from leading human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, the Indian security forces operated a policy of "shoot first, ask later", leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of Sikhs (Amnesty International, which incidentally is banned from India, puts the figure above 100,000). The effect of these gross human rights abuses, where torture and extra-judicial killings were common, was the execution or capture of most Sikh freedom fighting leaders. Civilian deaths in Punjab have declined by more than 95 percent since over 3,300 civilians officially died in 1991. Many of the Babbar Khalsa members were involved in the Air India flight 182 disaster (which occurred in June 23 1985) that took off from Canada,but unforunately exploded over the coast of Ireland near Dublin. The disaster was in retaliation of the Indian troops storming the Golden Temple (which was known as Operation Bluestar). A new book on the tragic 1985 Air India bombing by a Canadian journalist who has followed the case for 20 years presents unknown facts that could have made a crucial difference to the outcome of the trial. "Loss of Faith: How the Air-India Bombers Got Away With Murder" provides new evidence into the bombing of Air India Flight 182 that went down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board. The book has been written by veteran journalist Kim Bolan, who brings together the untold stories behind one of the worst terrorist attacks in Canadian history.Even after the terrorist-secessionist movement for Khalistan was comprehensively defeated in 1993, there remain a handful of terrorist outfits chiefly supported by Pakistan and some non-resident Indian Sikh groups who continue to propagate the ideology of Khalistan. One of the most prominent among them is the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). It is among the oldest and most organised Khalistan terrorist groups. The BKI traces its origin to the Babbar Akali Movement of 1920 and is believed to have assumed its present form after the Baisakhi 1978-clashes between the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and Nirankaris and more particularly when some followers of Bibi Amarjit Kaur brought out some leaflets styling themselves as Babbar Khalsa after the killing of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh, on April 24, 1980. Subsequently, the outfit started targeting all those who sympathised with the Nirankaris. Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Talwinder Singh Parmar were the founding members of this organisation. The first unit of the BKI was founded in Canada in 1981 under the leadership of late Talwinder Singh Parmar. The outfit at present is active in the USA Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and Pakistan. Talwinder Singh Parmar, a co-founder of the BKI, formed the Babbar Khalsa (Parmar) faction in 1992, when he split from the BKI after serious differences erupted between him and its leadership of. The Parmar faction has a presence in the UK, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1272x1331, 105 KB) Babbar Khalsa International logo File links The following pages link to this file: Babbar Khalsa ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1272x1331, 105 KB) Babbar Khalsa International logo File links The following pages link to this file: Babbar Khalsa ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1102x1116, 100 KB) Babbar Khalsa International logo variation File links The following pages link to this file: Babbar Khalsa ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1102x1116, 100 KB) Babbar Khalsa International logo variation File links The following pages link to this file: Babbar Khalsa ... A Sikh man wearing a turban A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a religious faith originating in the Punjab. ... Jump to: navigation, search Flag of Khalistan in exile Khalistan (Punjabi: ਖਾਲਿਸਤਾਨ) was the name given to a proposed nation-state encompassing much of the area of Punjabi-speaking India and Pakistan, which formed part of the old Sikh Kingdom. ... Punjab, 1903 Punjab Province, 1909 The Punjab (Meaning: Land of five Rivers) (also Panjab, Gurmukhi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, Shahmukhi: پنجاب) is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. ... Haryana (हरयाणा) is a state in north India. ... Himachal Pradesh, formally the Punjab Hill States, is a state in northwest India. ... Rajasthan (राजस्थान) is the geographically largest state in northwestern India. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... The Nirankaris are a group that have splintered off from Sikhism, in essence, forming their own religion, since many of their beliefs hold no similiarity with those in Sikhism. ... The Akhand Kirtani Jatha or AKJ is dedicated to the Sikh lifestyle. ... Original Celebration Vasakhi marks the beginning of the new Spring year and the end of the harvest in India. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining, as the final day of August. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... On August 31, 1995, an alleged member, Dilawar Singh, assassinated Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh at the civil secretariat in Chandigarh during a suicide bombing. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The writer has presented a recap of the 600-page verdict - including evidence ruled out as inadmissible by Justice Ian Josephson that could have changed the course of the trial, according to the South Asian Observer newspaper here.

The alleged mastermind of the bombings, Talwinder Singh Parmar, was killed in India in 1992.

Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, the two Sikh separatists who were tried in the case, were eventually acquitted in March this year after a long and emotionally charged trial. "The Air India story has had an impact on my life and sometimes it has been an uncomfortable one. But many others suffered a lot while trying to know the truth - police, prosecutors, victims' relatives and witnesses. I am not the only one affected," Bolan said."I hope this book will expose the real story of who was responsible for this unprecedented crime."Bolan was first assigned the work in June 1985 right after the incident and for the past 20 years followed the story, travelling across the globe in a quest to know the truth.She interviewed suspects, witnesses, investigators and other key players, including Parmar, Malik and Bagri. During all these years, Bolan received repeated death threats, and once was even placed under police protection. "Loss of Faith" reveals new details of both the groups linked to the Air India bombings and the failed criminal investigation. Bolan has quoted Parmar's brother Kulwarn as saying that he witnessed Malik's meeting with his brother and pledging tens of thousands of dollars to Parmar's Babbar Khalsa terrorist group in the mid-80s and that the money was paid both in Canada and in India.She has identified the Indo-Canadian gangsters suspected in the November 1998 murder of a publisher and Air India witness Tara Singh Hayer, including a young man directly connected to Bagri.Hayer told Bolan in the spring of 1998 that he had agreed to be a witness in the Air India case after his friend, British publisher Tarsem Singh Purewal, was assassinated. Hayer showed Bolan his police statements and said he believed Purewal had been killed for knowing the same information. Bolan has said the Crown's star witness, who she calls Rani Kumar to protect her real identity, was one of the sources and disclosed Malik's alleged confession to her.Both women ended up getting death threats and Rani was forced into the witness protection programme.When Talwinder Singh Parmar fled Canada in 1988 he travelled on the passport of Balwant Singh Bhandher, a Surrey resident who was named at the trial as another Air India suspect.Parmar secretly came back into Canada in the spring of 1992 on a fund-raising tour and spent time with his family, as well as with Malik and Bagri.The author has revealed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) received confirmation from Indian sources that Parmar was arrested in Punjab in October 1992. He was tortured and murdered. The Indian government has maintained that Parmar was killed in a shoot-out. Currently, Wadhwa Singh, who is reportedly hiding in Pakistan, heads the outfit. Mehal Singh is the deputy chief of BKI. Both of them are among the 20 terrorists whom India wants Pakistan to extradite. Wadhwa Singh is reported to have personally supervised the assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh on August 31, 1995. He is also believed to have masterminded the January 2004 escape of the assassination-accused, Jagtar Singh Hawara, from the Burail jail in Chandigarh. Available evidence suggests that the Babbar Khalsa is part of a terrorist network sponsored by Germany-based terrorist groups as well as Pakistan’s external intelligence agency—the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)—to revive terrorism in the Indian Punjab.Media reports in August 2001 said a joint committee was formed in Germany to coordinate the activities of major terrorist organisatoins abroad. Gurdial Singh Lalli of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), Resham Singh of Babbar Khalsa and Harmeet Singh of Kamagata Maru Dal of Khalistan are the prominent leaders of this committee. The ISI is also reportedly keen on forging coordination between Khalistani terrorists, terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir and some fundamentalist groups. Interestingly, the Pakistan government appointed Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Javed Nasir, a former chief of the ISI, as the Chairman of Pakistan Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (PGPC), the body that administers Sikh shrines in Pakistan. The PGPC was formed in 1999. According to intelligence reports, Sikh terrorists camping in Pakistan are working under the direct supervision of General Nasir. Media reports in April 2002 said the ISI has entrusted the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) with the task of reviving terrorism in Punjab. The LeT will impart arms training to groups like the BKI, the ISYF and the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF). Reports also said the LeT has opened at least eight camps in Pakistan to train the Khalistanis. These are at Kot Lakhpat, Chakwal, Gujranwala, Mianwali, Peshawar, Attock, Shahidan Da Banga and Gulbarg in Lahore.Available evidence also suggests that the BKI has established a nexus with Dawood Ibrahim, the fugitive Indian underworld kingpin residing now in Karachi. The terrorists were liasoning with the Dawood Ibrahim gang in Mumbai through whom they disposed of stolen cars and trucks to amass money, which was then sent to Wadhwa Sigh for procuring arms and ammunition.Some reports have indicated that efforts were made by the ISI to help the BKI establish bases in China, but these initiatives were reportedly thwarted by the Chinese, who were not enthused by the project. Reports in February 2004 indicated that India has initiated efforts to secure the return of Mehal Singh from the French capital Paris. One of the two principal leaders of the group, he is alleged to have left for France from Pakistan during the later part of 2003. Official sources said that his decision to leave Pakistan was influenced by differences with Wadhwa Singh. Wadhwa Singh's son-in-law Satnam Singh Malian operates from Germany, deflecting surveillance from the former. The Delhi police today filed chargesheets against Babbar Khalsa militant and head of ‘‘India Operation’’ Jagtar Singh Hawara and seven others in the Liberty Cinema blasts case. The special cell of the Delhi police brought charges against the eight under several offences of the IPC including ‘waging a war against the country’ and murder in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Reena Singh Nag today.Besides Hawara, the others charged for the May 22 blast are Jagganath, Jaspal Singh, Balvinder, Vikas Sehgal, Ajit Raj, Joginder Kumar and Bishan Lal. On August 27, the police had filed a chargesheet against the accused for the Satyam Cinema blasts — which took place on the same day. The police claimed that couriers had ferried the consignment of explosives used in the blasts from a conduit in Pakistan.