User:Vivin/Sandbox/Sukhdev Singh Babbar

Sukhdev Singh Babbar was the leader of Babbar Khalsa International, one of the many militant groups in Punjab State that are fighting for an independent state for Sikhs, known as Khalistan. He commanded BKI continuously for 11 years, i.e. until his death. He was also one of the most prominent founding members of Babbar Khalsa International. He founded this organization along with Talwinder Singh Parmar.

Early Life
Sukhdev Singh Babbar was born on August 9, 1955 to Jind Singh and Harnam Kaur in the village of Dassuwal, Patti, Amritsar, Punjab, India. He studied only till the middle level. He had three brothers. His elder brother, Mr Mehal Singh "Babbar" is also an active leader of the Babbar Khalsa International. His younger brother Angrej Singh is blind. His family owned 18-acres of land in the village of Dassuwal. The wives of Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Mehal Singh Babbar are sisters who belonged to the adjoining villages of Ghariala

Participation in the Khalistan movement
He founded the Babbar Khalsa International along with Talwinder Singh Parmar with the objective secede from India and form the state of Khalistan for Sikhs. The first Unit of BKI was founded in Canada in 1981. This organization has a presence in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and Pakistan. Babbar Khalsa International became a major participant in the Khalistan movement under his guidance and participated in hundreds of operations against Indian security forces. The organization remained active in several Indian states. Under his leadership, the Babbar Khalsa International became the best armed, most feared and most powerful of dozens of the militant groups in the state of Punjab.

Indian security forces were accused of using inhumane methods to gather information about Sukhdev Singh Babbar. According to Amnesty International, they illegally detained-without-charge, beat, and harassed his family members to gain information about Babbar Khalsa Leaders. According to Gurmeet Kaur, Sukhdev Singh's sister-in-law, security forces beat her so violently that the ligaments of her left arm and shoulder were torn. She also alleged that her hands were tied behind and she was made to lie on the floor on her stomach. She was lashed with a whip and then interrogated. Policemen then placed roller planks on her legs and three men got up and rolled the planks up and down until she fainted from pain. .

Death
Sukhdev Singh Babbar died on August 9th 1992 when heavily armed policemen stormed a comfortable villa in the crowded city of Patiala in early August and captured him. At the time, he was India's most wanted Sikh militant. The circumstances of his death remain disputed. Initially, police said that he was killed in a gun battle outside the city. After that, they said that he was unarmed and that he committed suicide by ingesting a cyanide capsule. A third report said that he was shot by the police after his capture. After his death, the BKI was severely weakened. India used Special Forces personnel disguised as terrorits to capture Mr. Babbar. He was captured with the help of a former Babbar militant, who informed on him in exchange for a reward of INR 1,000,000. The militant arranged meeting of top Babbar militants, ostensibly to work out future strategy. For helping neutralize the chief of the most powerful militant group in the state, the turned militant also received a full third of the reward on Mr. Sukhdev Singh.

On October, 1997, Mr. Sukhdev Singh Babbar along with Talwinder Singh Parmar were commemorated as Martyrs in a memorial service held at Surrey Sikh Temple on 132 Street, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Ajaib Singh Bagri, who was acquitted of charges in the Air India Flight 182 case, presented an address at the ceremony.