Sukhdev Singh Babbar

Sukhdev Singh Babbar (9 August 1955 − 9 August 1992) was an Indian militant, Sikh separatist, and co-leader of Babbar Khalsa (BK), a Sikh militant organisation involved in the pursuit of creating a Sikh nation named as " Khalistan" and generally believed responsible for the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, although Sukhdev was never named as being involved. BK was founded by Talwinder Singh Parmar, himself, and Amarjit Kaur. He commanded BK continuously for 14 years until he was killed in 1992. He was a member of the AKJ.

Early life

Sukhdev Singh Dasuwal was born on 9 August 1955 to Jind Singh and Harnam Kaur in a Sandhu Jatt Sikh family of the village Dassuwal, Patti, Tarn Taran, Punjab, India. He studied up to the middle school level. He had three brothers. His elder brother, Mehal Singh "Babbar" is also an active leader of the Babbar Khalsa International. The older brother of all three, Angrej Singh, is blind. His family owned of land in the village of Dassuwal. The wives of Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Mehal Singh Babbar are sisters who belonged to the adjoining village of Ghariala. He took Amrit and became a Khalsa in 1977.

Participation in the Khalistan movement

Beginning

As per ''The Tribune'', the day of the Sikh–Nirankari clashes (13 April 1978) was also the day when his marriage was fixed. On this day, he took the pledge to take revenge on the Nirankaris. He founded the organisation Babbar Khalsa along with Talwinder Singh Parmar with the objective to secede from India and form the state of Khalistan for Sikhs. Babbar Khalsa's first goals were to kill the Nirankari head and the Nirankari seven stars who were the Sant Nirankari version of the Panj Pyare.

Sukhdev Singh Babbar was the president of the Babbar Khalsa International. It was considered as the best armed and funded among the Khalistani militant groups in Punjab State with an objective to create an independent state for Sikhs, known as Khalistan. During the Khalistan movement, Sukhdev Singh Babbar was a militant chief of Babbar Khalsa International.

Attacks on Nirankaris

One of Babbar Khalsa's earliest activities was the killing of Nirankari Shaadi Lal by Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Kulwant Singh Nagoke.

Babbar Khalsa claimed responsibly for killing the Nirankari head Gurbachan Singh on 24 April 1980.

In 1981 Babbar Khalsa split between members in foreign nations under Tawlinder Singh and members in India under Sukhdev Singh Babbar who was made overall head. Sukhdev said no unlawful activity will be done outside of India. The first unit of Babbar Khalsa International was founded in Canada in 1981. This organisation has a presence in the United States, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and Pakistan. Babbar Khalsa International became a major participant in Khalistan movement under his guidance and participated in hundreds of operations against Indian security forces and remained active in several Indian states.
One of Babbar Khalsa's earliest activities was the killing of Nirankari Shaadi Lal by Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Kulwant Singh Nagoke. He was the President of Anandpur Sahib Municipality and one of the Nirankari seven stars.

On 9 September 1981, Lala Jagat Narain was assassinated. Jagat was a former Punjab Legislative Assembly member and a former Member of Parliament. He was also the founder of Hind Samachar. Jagat was an outspoken critic of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and of the Khalistan movement. Jagat also had portrayed the Sikh gurus as "lovers of wine and women". Babbar Khalsa claimed responsibility.

On 16 October 1981, Sukhdev and fellow Babbar Khalsa members attacked Niranjan Singh who was a Nirankari and Indian Administrative Service officer. He was the Deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur. He was a key accused in the 1978 Sikh-Nirankari clash. Niranjan managed to survive the attack in an injured state, but his brother was killed.

On 23 October 1981, Babbar's killed the Sarpanch of Pannchata Mohinder Pal.

On 16 November 1981, 2 Babbar Khalsa members on motorcycles under Sukhdev Singh Babbar killed Parhal Chand the Nirankari head of Kapurathala district. He was one of the seven Nirankari stars. In the killing, Chand's father was killed and his brother was injured.

On 22 May 1982, Babbar Khalsa members opened fire directed at Nirankari's in Patti killing 4 and injuring many more.

On 27 October 1982, Surinder Singh Sodhi, Babbar Khalsa members and Labh Singh killed Resham Singh. Resham was the Sant Nirankari head of Hoshiarpur District and 1 of the 7 stars. Babbars, Sodhi and Labh Singh had disguised themselves as police. They had approached Resham posing as officers who just wanted to chat. As Resham was talking about Bhindranwale, supposedly negatively, Babbars, Labh Singh and Sodhi pulled out stenguns and opened fire killing him instantly. It is said that Babbars, Sodhi and Labh Singh fled on a Royal Enfield Bullet and fired victory shots.ਖਾੜਕੂ ਯੋਧੇ in Punjabi by Maninder Singh Baja Ajit Newspaper 15 July 1988

On 10 September 1983, Babbar's killed Kulwant Singh the Nirankari head of Faridkot.

In 1984 Sukhdev Singh Babbar claimed responsibility for the killing of 76 Nirankaris.

Various assassinations and attacks

In February 1986 Babbar Khalsa members killed DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) Harpal Singh. He was killed along with his father.

On 19 January 1987, Babbar Khalsa members under Sukhdev killed Joginder Pal Pandey in Ludhiana. He was the general secretary of the Indian National Congress Party in Punjab and a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. In the attack Pandey's security guard Sohan Lal was killed. Three Babbars in a vehicle had opened fire when Pandey's car was stopped at a gas station. This incident led to a curfew in Ludhiana.

Babbar Khalsa launched an attack in September 1987 with Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala. The target was S.H.O. (Station house officer) Sub-Inspector Mith Singh. Mith Singh had been hand-picked by then chief of Punjab Police Julio F. Riberio. He was picked to deal with Budhsinghwala. Mith Singh had been accused of police brutality and targeting Budhsinghwala's family. Mith Singh had dragged Budhsinghwala's father by his hair in a public humiliation. Budhsinghwala began plotting to kill Mith Singh in revenge for his actions with Husan Singh and Babbar Khalsa members. The attack was carried out by Budshinghwala and fellow Sikh militants on 15 September 1987 at around 9am. Mith Singh was shot while he was walking along with his guard, a police constable. Both of their guns were taken by Budhsinghwala. In the crossfire a schoolboy was also killed and five others were injured. The killing is said to have greatly alarmed Punjab Chief of Police Riberio. Mith Singh was one of his best and most loyal officers.

Commandant Gobind Ram was killed on 10 January 1990. Gobind Ram was killed in a bomb blast at the headquarters of the 75th battalion of the Punjab Armed Police in Jalandhar. He was commandant of the 75th battalion. According to an informant Gobind Ram's body had to be swept off the floor. The planning of the killing was done by Toofan Singh and Babbars. The bomb was planted in the cooler of his office. In the blast, three others, including Sub Inspector Prem Kumar, were killed and at least four were critically wounded. The blast also caused major damage to the building. All the windows of the second floor were broken and a fire broke out on the first floor. Multiple vehicles parked were also damaged. Gobind Ram was known as the "butcher". He was known involved in 38 extrajudicial executions. He had been on the hit list of Sikhs over his role in fake encounters. He had also beat and tortured the wives of Sikhs. He was also known for forcing people to drink urine calling it "Gobind Ram's ''amrit''".

On 16 February 1990, KCF, BTFK (Sangha), BKI, and SSF collectively claimed responsibility for an explosion in Phillaur that killed Inspector Harcharan Singh Soori and Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Moorti on the 11th. The bomb also wounded 2 Sergeants. The explosion happened in an armoured and guarded police training facility. Both were put in a special armoured room for extra safety, but were killed at 9 pm from an explosion within their room. Both officers had been accused of torturing Sikhs. Inspector Soori had survived a previous assassination attempt in 1988.

On 25 February 1990, Babbar Khalsa killed a police indormant involved in the killing of Babbar Khalsa men.

On 26 February 1990, Babbar Khalsa attack a CRPF patrol near Ajab Vali killing 5 soldiers and injuring 6.

On 2 March 1990, KCF, KLF, BKI, and SSF collectively claimed responsibility for killing 1 Sergeant and 1 Constable of Punjab Police in Nagoke for alleged "misdeeds".

On 2 March 1990, KCF, KLF, BKI, and SSF collectively claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Philaur that killed 1 police constable and 2 others. They stated that they were killed because they had put fake cases on locals.World Sikh News (Punjabi) 2 March 1990 Page 2

On 16 March 1990, Babbar Khalsa members killed 3 serial rapists near Batala who were wanted in over 40 cases of rape.

On 16 March 1990, Babbar Khalsa claimed responsibility for killing multiple BSF men in Zaffarwal.

On 16 March 1990, KLF, SSF, BKI, and KCF claimed responsibility for killing a police informant named Bhagwant Singh who was involved in over 50 killings. He was also a key associate of Gobind Ram.

On 6 April 1990, Babbar Khalsa claimed responsibility for killing 1 Assistant Sub-Inspector and 6 Constables.

On 14 May 1990, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, president of SGPC, was attacked in his car. A jeep with about six militants drove beside Tohra's vehicle and opened fire. An escort car attempted to chase them but they escaped. Tohra managed to survive but was injured. Tohra's bodyguard was also injured. Tohra's driver was killed and so was former MLA H.S. Rajla who was accompanying Tohra. Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala of Khalistan Liberation Force, Paramjit Singh Panjwar of Khalistan Commando Force, Sukhdev Singh Babbar of Babbar Khalsa, and Daljit Singh of the All India Sikh Student Federation collectively claimed responsibility. They said he was attacked for his involvement in Operation Blue Star.

On 23 July 1990, KLF, KCF, BKI, and SSF collectively claimed responsibility for killing the Chief Engineer of the SYL, ML Sekhri, and Superintending Engineer of the SYL, Avtar Singh. They were killed while attending a meeting with fellow engineers in Chandigarh.

On 21 September 1990, KCF, KLF, BKI, and SSF claimed responsibility for an attack on a SPO base which killed 2 officers.World Sikh News (Punjabi) 21 September 1990 Page 2

On 21 September 1990, KCF, KLF, BKI, and SSF claimed responsibility for killing a Nirankari in Patiala.

On 28 September 1990, KCF, KLF, BKI, and SSF claimed responsibility for killing Inspector Rajinderpal Singh.

On 23 November 1990, KCF, KLF, BKI, BTFK, and SSF claimed responsibility for killing Congress president of Jalandhar district, Gurdarshan Singh. They claimed he was a police informant involved in the killing of militants.

On 24 November 1990, at 9 am Babbar along with other militant groups part of the Sohan Singh Committee killed Superintendent of Police (Operations) Harjit Singh in a bomb blast at Tarn Taran. Sikh militants had been studying Harjit's travel routes for some time. A remote-controlled bomb had been placed on a road Harjit usually drove by to go to the doctor. When Harjit's lead security vehicles drove by and it was just his vehicle over the bomb it was detonated. In the explosion three of his security guards were killed and his vehicle was destroyed. Harjit's limbs were found over 100 meters away from the location of the explosion. A permanent curfew was put on the town after. A saying about the incident is, "He had a security vehicle in front of him and behind him, so he would be safe from all sides. But he didn’t count on his death coming from below". Twenty-two days prior to his death Harjit had killed the chief of BTFK (S) Sukhwinder Singh Sangha along with four other militants. KLF, KCF, Babbar Khalsa, SSF, and BTFK (S) members held a meeting afterward pledging to kill Harjit within 31 days of Sangha's death. Major Singh of KCF was given the lead role in the killing. A famous kavishri ballad about this incident says, "24th November at exactly 9, for Sangha’s revenge Major Singh and his allies have arrived. Without wasting any time Kharkus have come to kill him… The 5 jathebandis roupshad said we would hit him hard… To become SSP he had done many misdeeds… Watch how with a computer system emote-controlled bomb Kharkus blow him up. Harjit’s wife watches his limbs blow up… Operation Shera has been done on the SP of Operation."

On 26 October 1991, R.N. Goyal, Chief Health Officers Ludhiana, Bachitar Singh Director Health Services Punjab, and 5 others were killed by KCF, KLF, BTFK, BKI, and SSF. They claimed that the doctors had forged autopsy’s, improperly treated Sikhs, and aided in police killings.

Death

He died on 9 August 1992, in a gunfight when heavily armed policemen stormed a villa in the city of Patiala in early August and captured him. At the time, he was India's most wanted Khalistani extremist.

It is reported that India used the cat system (Special Forces personnel disguised as militant), to trap Babbar. He was captured with the help of a former Babbar member turned police-cat, who informed on him in exchange for a reward of ₹ 10,00,000. This former member helped trap Babbar by arranging a meeting of top Babbar militants, ostensibly to work out future strategy. For helping neutralise the chief of the most powerful group of militants in the state, the turned member also received a full third of the reward on Singh.

Aftermath

After the death of Babbar, his followers killed policemen in retaliation.

After his death, Punjab Police DGP Kanwar Pal Singh Gill accused Babbar of living a "''king-like''" lifestyle. In his book, "Punjab: The Knights of Falsehoods", he accused Babbar of living a lavish lifestyle contradictory to the ideals of his organisation, and claimed that he owned multiple lavish bungalows. He further accused Babbar of living with Jawahar Kaur, a member of a popular singing group "Nabhe Wallian Bibian Da Jatha", and fathering an illegitimate child.

After his death his family members left their home and moved abroad. A major portion of his ancestral house of the Babbar Khalsa chief now stands demolished and the remaining dilapidated two-room set is locked.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babbar, Sukhdev Singh
1955 births
1992 deaths
Khalistan movement people
People from Punjab, India
Sikh terrorism
People shot dead by law enforcement officers in India
Insurgency in Punjab