Babbar Khalsa International

What it is: Babbar Khalsa, later Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), is an armed Sikh group that seeks an independent Khalistan. Its name recalls the Babbar Akali movement of the 1920s, which opposed British rule. Wikipedia says it formed after the clash of 13 April 1978 between the Sant Nirankari Mission and the Damdami Taksal and Akhand Kirtani Jatha, in which 13 Sikhs were killed at Amritsar according to the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism.

When it was founded, and by whom: Wikipedia says April 1978, by Sukhdev Singh Babbar, with Bibi Amarjit Kaur’s support and Talwinder Singh Parmar as president. EBSCO says the late 1970s in one place and 1981 in Canada in another. Both can be true: Wikipedia adds that in 1981 the group split, with members abroad following Parmar and members in India following Sukhdev Singh Babbar as overall head.

Leaders, in order: Sukhdev Singh Babbar led in India and Talwinder Singh Parmar abroad. Both died in 1992, killed in police raids in August and October according to EBSCO. A Sikh tribute site quotes KPS Gill calling Babbar’s death an encounter near Ludhiana, and says he was arrested days earlier and tortured; that is a partisan account and not independently verified. The Tribune reported in 2001 that Babbar’s elder brother Mehal Singh was chief and sheltering in Pakistan. EBSCO lists Wadhawa Singh Babbar as the present leader, based in Pakistan.

Key moments

• 23 June 1985: Air India Flight 182 was destroyed by a bomb off Ireland, killing 329 people. Canadian police believed Parmar planned it. He was never tried. Inderjit Singh Reyat, who helped build the bomb, is the only person convicted, on a manslaughter plea in 2003. Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted on 16 March 2005. The 2010 Major Commission report found a “cascading series of errors” by the Canadian government, the RCMP and CSIS (Wikipedia).
• 31 August 1995: Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh was killed by a suicide bomber. EBSCO says a BKI member claimed responsibility.
• Listings: the UK proscribed it in 2001, Canada listed it on 18 June 2003, and the United States placed it on its “Terrorist Exclusion List” on 30 April 2004 (EBSCO). Canada’s entry calls it a “Sikh terrorist entity”. India bans it, and the NIA calls it “proscribed”.
• 7 June 2025: the NIA filed a chargesheet against five people over the bombing of two Gurugram clubs on 10 December 2024. It alleges the attack was carried out by “members and cadres” of BKI and names Goldy Brar, in Canada, and Randeep Malik, in the US. These are the NIA’s allegations, not court findings.
• December 2025: HM Treasury froze the assets of Gurpreet Singh Rehal and a group called Babbar Akali Lehar for supporting Babbar Khalsa. The Treasury said it assessed that Rehal was involved in recruitment, financial services and buying weapons.

Where it stands: BKI is banned in India and listed as “terrorist” by the UK, Canada and the US. EBSCO says remnants remain among Sikhs in Pakistan, reportedly with Pakistani government support, and in exile communities in the UK, Canada, the US and Germany, with headquarters believed to be in Lahore. That is the Indian and Western agencies’ account. The group’s supporters, and the Sikh sites that call Sukhdev Singh Babbar a Shaheed, give a different one, of fighters killed in custody.