The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) is a militant Khalistani organisation operating in the state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

with prominent members based in Canada, the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Its objective is the creation of a Sikh independent state of

Khalistan The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (' Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab region. The proposed state would consist of land that cur ...

through armed struggle. According to the US State Department, and the Assistant Inspector General of the Punjab Police Intelligence Division, the KCF was responsible for many assassinations in India, including the 1995 assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

has declared and banned KCF as a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

organisation.

Objective

The creation of a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ' ...

independent state Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

through armed struggle is their primary goal. KCF primarily targeted Indian security forces including CRPF,

BSF BSF may refer to: Organisations * Ballerup-Skovlunde Fodbold, a Danish football club * British Skin Foundation, a UK charity raising money for skin disease and skin cancer research * Bibliothèques Sans Frontières, an international non profit * ...

and other police forces. It targeted Hindus who were against the Khalistan movement. The primary source of funding of KCF is looting, bank robbery and extortion. It is also involved in large scale smuggling of weapons from Pakistan to India across the International border.

Formation and leadership

The Khalistan Commando Force was founded by Manbir Singh Chaheru in August 1986. The group later broke into multiple factions. On 8 August 1986, Punjab Police arrested Manbir Singh Chaheru ("Hari Singh"), and he was eventually killed or disappeared while in police custody. After Chaheru was arrested, former

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

Sukhdev Singh, also known as Sukha Sipahi, took command of the KCF. Sukhdev Singh changed his name to

Labh Singh Sukhdev Singh Dhillon (1952 – 12 July 1988), best known as Labh Singh and also known as Sukha Sipahi and General Labh Singh, was a former Punjab police officer turned militant who took command of the Khalistan Commando Force after its first ...

and assumed the title of "General". After his death the KCF was headed by Kanwarjit Singh Sultanwind On 18 October 1989, Kanwarjit Singh Sultanwind, and another two KCF members were arrested by police near

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

. While one member managed to escape, Kanwarjit Singh Sultanwind, then 23 years old, swallowed a

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

capsule to avoid giving information about the group.

Decline

Operation Black Thunder Operation Black Thunder is the name given to two operations that took place in India in the late 1980s to flush out remaining pro-Khalistan Sikh militants from the Golden Temple using 'Black Cat' commandos of the National Security Guards and com ...

against the Sikh militants in Golden Temple greatly degraded the capability of KCF to conduct operations. Police killed

on 12 July 1988. His loss damaged the organisation. After his death, the Khalistan Commando Force split into factions including those led by Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Gurjant Singh Rajasthani. Another result of Labh Singh's death was the failure of the Khalistan Commando Force - Babbar Khalsa alliance, as the relationship established by Labh Singh and

Sukhdev Singh Babbar Jathedar Sukhdev Singh Babbar (9 August 1955 − 9 August 1992) was the co-leader of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a Sikh terrorist organization involved in the pursuit of creating a theocratic Sikh nation they call "Khalistan" and found respo ...

was lost. Police and other Indian security forces caught or killed Lieutenant Generals and Area Commanders, and eventually crushed many of the factions.

Activities

1980s

The organisation battled Indian military forces, especially in revenge for

Operation Blue Star Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings ...

, the government's 1984 military operation in the Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Maj ...

. It assassinated General Arun Vaidya, who led the Indian forces in Operation Blue Star. It also attacked sellers of alcohol, cigarettes, and other items prohibited by conservative Sikhism. Sikh militants from Khalistan Commando Force attacked two buses. They singled out and killed 34 Hindu bus passengers in 1987 Haryana killings.

1990s

After the major defeats of the KCF in the late 1980s, the group continued its struggle into the 1990s. A June 1991 attack on a passenger train in northwestern Punjab killed about fifty, mostly Hindu, passengers. A September 1993 bombing in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

targeting

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. While p ...

president Maninderjeet Singh Bitta that killed eight people. On 9 October 1992, Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha, alleged assassins of General Arun Vaidya, were hanged until death in Pune jail. The KCF was listed in 1995 one of the 4 "major militant groups" in the Khalistan movement.

2000s

In June 2006 a member of the Panjwar faction of the KCF, Kulbir Singh Barapind was extradited from the US to

. He was deported to India for belonging to a terrorist organisation and for entering the United States with a false passport. He was wanted in India for thirty-two cases, but was arrested for three murders in the early 1990s. After his arrest, he stated that he would renew the Khalistan movement through peaceful means. The investigation began in 2003, when Khalid Awan, jailed at the time for

credit card fraud Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The P ...

, bragged of his relationship with Paramjeet Singh Panjwar, leader of the KCF. Awan was given a 14-year prison sentence in 2007 on terrorism charges. In 2008, Punjab Police announced they had foiled a KCF effort to kill

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan (born 15 August 1967), known also as MSG, is the head of the Indian social group Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) since 1990. Prior to a 2017 rape conviction, he was a religious leader, actor, singer, writer, songwriter, d ...

, head of

Dera Sacha Sauda Dera Sacha Sauda ("Camp True-Deal"; colloquially DSS) is an Indian non-governmental organization described as a "religious cult" and "non-profit social welfare dera" that was established on 29 April 1948 by Mastana Balochistani, an ascetic f ...

Status

Paramjeet Singh Panjwar remained the head of the remaining faction of the KCF as of 2008, and was listed at that time as one of the top 10 most wanted criminals in India. As per the released statement of Khalid Awan - a Canadian citizen - who served 14-year sentence in the U.S. prisons for transferring money to KCF, Panjwar is a VIP in Pakistan and has the support of Pakistan's

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

agency. On the other hand, the U.S prosecutors have claimed that Awan admitted of transferring money to Panjwar despite knowing the fact that the money will be used to carry out attacks against India. The

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

beta version of the "Global Terrorism Database" has recorded 2 attacks on military targets, 9 attacks on police or other government targets, and 9 attacks against civilian, religious, transportation or educational entities, in both India and Pakistan, as of June 2009. The KCF remains banned in India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and designated as

organisation by the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. A 2011 NPR report claimed a person associated with this group was imprisoned in a highly restrictive

Communication Management Unit A communications management unit (CMU) is a type of self-contained group within a facility in the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons that severely restricts, manages and monitors all outside communication (telephone, mail, visitation) of inmat ...

in the US.DATA & GRAPHICS: Population Of The Communications Management Units
page 8/15. Margot Williams and Alyson Hurt, NPR, 3 March 2011, retrieved 4 March 2011 from npr.org

References

{{Terror outfits Paramilitary organisations based in India Pro-Khalistan militant outfits Sikh terrorism Organisations designated as terrorist by India Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist 1986 establishments in Punjab, India