Babbar Khalsa

Punjabi: ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ Babbar Khalsa International
Participant in Punjab Insurgency
The logo of Babbar Khalsa International
Active	1978-present
Ideology	Khalistan Sikh nationalism
Leaders	Talwinder Singh Babbar
Headquarters	Patiala
Opponents	Nirankaris
Battles/wars	Operation Bluestar Operation Woodrose Khalistan movement

Babbar Khalsa(BKI) (Punjabi: ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, [bəbːəɾ xɑlsɑ]), also known as Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), is an armed terrorist organisation based in India. Many consider the Babbar Khalsa a Resistance movement,^[1][2] and it played a prominent role in the Punjab insurgency. Babbar Khalsa International was created in 1978, after a number of Sikhs were killed in clashes with the Nirankari sect.^[3] It was active throughout 1980s in the Punjab insurgency but its influence declined in the 1990s after several senior members were killed in encounter killings with police.^[3] Babbar Khalsa International has since been declared to be a terrorist organization in many countries, including India, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.^[4][5][6] On March 13, 2011, Jagtar Singh Tara split from the Babbar Khalsa to form the Khalistan Tiger Force for undisclosed reasons.^[7]

History

Creation

The name Babbar Khalsa is taken from the Babbar Akali Movement of 1920, which agitated against British colonial rule in India. The modern-day Babbar Khalsa was created as a result of the bloody clash on April 13, 1978, between a group of Amritdhari Sikhs of Akhand Kirtani Jatha who went to protest against a gathering of the rival Nirankari sect. The confrontation led to the murder of thirteen of demonstrators. When a criminal case was filed against the Nirankari leader, he had his case transferred to neighboring Haryana state, where he was acquitted the following year.^[8] This gave rise to new organizational expressions of Sikh aspirations outside the Akali party, and an angry sentiment that if the government and judiciary would not prosecute enemies of Sikhism, taking extrajudical measures could be justified to avenge the death of Sikhs.^[9] Among the chief proponents of this attitude were the militant Babbar Khalsa founded by Sukhdev Singh Babbar (a close associate of Fauja Singh, one of the Sikhs killed at the Nirankari clash) and Bibi Amarjit Kaur of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha (widow of Fauja Singh). Indo-Canadian Talwinder Singh Parmar was put in charge of the international wing of the Babbar Khalsa in 1981. Sukhdev Singh Babbar remained overall leader, or Jathedar, of Babbar Khalsa until his death in 1992, with Wadhawa Singh Babbar and Mehal Singh Babbar his deputies (or vice-Jathedars).

When Gurbachan Singh, the Nirankari Baba responsible for what Sikhs perceived to be the innocent deaths of the aforementioned thirteen, was shot dead on April 24, 1980, it was a member of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Ranjit Singh who surrendered and admitted to the assassination. The Babbar Khalsa was considered the most dangerous, well-armed, and puritanical of the various Sikh militant organisations fighting Indian rule in Punjab. Whereas other militant organisations made some compromise with the tenets of Sikhism during the militancy period, Babbar Khalsa stood alone in its insistence on the strict compliance of the rules of the Khalsa brotherhood. According to C. Christine Fair, Babbar Khalsa was more concerned with propagating the ideas of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha than with the actual Khalistan movement.^[10]

Activity

Four Babbar Khalsa International UK members were arrested and later bailed in July 2010 in connection with the murder of a Sikh leader in Punjab, India.^[11] Babbar Khalsa kept up a low level of activity until 1983.^[10] Its membership was drawn from ex-servicemen, police officers, and Sikh religious organizations.^[10] After Operation Bluestar the organization fell into disarray but was able to regroup and remained active.^[10]

During its highest period of activity Babbar Khalsa International had 27 subgroups operating under its direction.^[12] It specialized in the use of bombs,^[12] particularly RDX.

Air India Flight 182

The Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182 concluded that Talwinder Singh Parmar"is now believed that he was the leader of the conspiracy to bomb Air India flights"^[13] Only Inderjit Singh Reyat who admitted to building the bomb, was convicted in the Air India bombing.^[14] The bombing attack, the worst act of airliner terrorism before 9/11 was followed by at least six other terrorist incidents, plots or threats which were linked to Babbar Khalsa sect in Surrey British Columbia, Hamilton and Montreal. Five Babbar Khalsa members from Montreal were arrested May 30th 1986 in another plot to bomb up Air India flights out of New York City. Newspaper editor Tara Singh Hayer was targeted with a bomb at his office in January 1986. Just weeks later, Sikhs from the Hamilton temple along with Air India bombing suspects Talwinder Singh Parmar and Ajaib Singh Bagri were arrested after being wiretapped discussing blowing up the Parliament and kidnapping children of MPs in India. Visiting Punjabi Cabinet Minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu was ambushed in Canada, surviving being shot in March 1986 by four gunmen.^[15]

Decline

The crackdown on Sikh militant organisations by the Indian Government in the early 1990s, followed by government infiltration of the Khalistan movement and the various militant organisations respectively, greatly weakened the Babbar Khalsa, ultimately leading to the death of Sukhdev Singh Babbar (9 August 1992) and Talwinder Singh Parmar (15 October 1992). Parmar's death remained controversial, and today he is accepted to have been shot dead by Indian police during custody; the Tehelka investigation found that Indian security forces had killed him after interrogation and were ordered to destroy his confession statements,^[16] Canada's CBC network also reported that Parmar had been in police custody for some time prior to his death.^[17]

The death of Sukhdev Singh Babbar, described by India Today as “the most prominent leader since 1978” who had “an aura of invincibility”, severely weakened Babbar Khalsa.^{[citation needed]}

Despite setbacks incurred in the early Nineties, Babbar Khalsa is still active under ground, although not to the extent it once was. Current leadership resides with Wadhawa Singh Babbar, with Pratik Shah as deputy Jathedar. Babbar Khalsa is suspected by the Punjab police authorities to be responsible for a bombing at the Shingar Cinema Complex in Ludhiana on October 2007, in which 7 people were killed and 32 wounded.^[18]

See also

• Sukhdev Singh Babbar
• Jagtar Singh Hawara
• Talwinder Singh Parmar
• Malagar Singh Babbar
• Dilawar Singh Babbar

References

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