From Sikhs For Justice to Khalistan Tiger Force, five pro-Khalistan groups India wants Canada to ban

Canada has banned just two pro-Khalistani groups operating in the country, according to a new report. This despite New Delhi urging Ottawa to ban a number of pro-Khalistan outfits including the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and Khalistan Tiger Force. Relations between New Delhi and Canada have deteriorated following the killing of terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s sensational accusation of an Indian hand behind the death – a charge New Delhi has denied as ‘absurd’. But what happened exactly? And what do we know about the outfits India wants banned? Let’s take a closer look: What happened? As per Economic Times, Canada has banned two pro-Khalistan outfits – the Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation. The home ministry first proscribed the International Sikh Youth Federation under the Prevention of Terrorism Act on 22 March, 2002. Canada’s counter-terrorism division first inducted the two groups in its designated terror outfits’ list in 2003. In 2018, it upheld the decision after a review, as per the newspaper.

As per the home ministry, nearly a dozen pro-Khalistani leaders remain at large in Canada, Pakistan and Europe.

“BKI is a Sikh terrorist entity that aims to establish a fundamentalist independent Sikh state called Khalistan in what is the Indian state of Punjab. BKI activities include armed attacks, assassinations, and bombings. BKI has members outside India, in Pakistan, North America, Europe, and Scandinavia,” Canada said while designating BKI as a terror group. Meanwhile, Ottawa upholding the ban on IYSF, said, “The International Sikh Youth Federation was founded in 1984 in the United Kingdom as an international branch of the All India Sikh Students’ Federation, with centres in several countries, including Canada. ISYF is a Sikh organization whose aim is to promote Sikh philosophy and establishment of an independent Sikh nation called Khalistan. Since 1984, its members have been engaged in terrorist attacks, assassinations and bombings primarily against Indian political figures, but also against moderate members of the Sikh community. ISYF collaborates and/or associates with a number of Sikh terrorist organizations, including Babbar Khalsa International.” What about the outfits India wants banned? A senior North Block official told the Economic Times that India has exhorted Canada to ban a number of outfits including the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). All these outfits have already been proscribed in India. Khalistan Tiger Force The Centre in February 2023 declared the KTF a terrorist organisation under the provisions of the UAPA. The KTF is a Sikh extremist outfit that aims to revive terrorism in Punjab. [caption id=“attachment_13140842” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] KTF chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed earlier this year.[/caption] The outfit challenges the territorial integrity, unity, national security and sovereignty of India and promotes various acts of terrorism, including targeted killings in Punjab.

As per the Centre, the KTF was formed in 2011 as an offshoot of Babbar Khalsa International.

As per the Khalistan Extremism Monitor website, the KTF was founded by Jagtar Singh Tara with the assistance of Pakistan’s ISI. Tara, a former Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) militant was part of the 1995 murder of the then Punjab chief minister  Beant Singh. Based out of Pakistan, the group has sympathisers in France, Canada and Spain. As per the website, the group has attempted to carry out bombings and armed attacks in Punjab. The group has also attempted to hit VIPs and enable attacks by jihadi elements in the state. KTF chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was on 18 June shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Canada’s Surrey. Sikhs For Justice The Sikhs for Justice group is a fringe outfit run by a few radical Sikhs of foreign nationality in the US, Canada, the UK.

It is headed by New York-based lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Pannun recently made headlines when he threatened Hindu Canadians to leave the country in the aftermath of Nijjar’s killing. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently stated that investigations into the SFJ revealed that the group was attempting to radicalise Indian youth and urging them to commit acts of terror. The Centre in a 10 July, 2019, notification had deemed the group unlawful under the provisions of Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Government of India, banning the SFJ for five years, said its primary objective was to establish an “independent and sovereign country” in Punjab. [caption id=“attachment_13194612” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is the legal advisor and face of SFJ, a banned organization that seeks to achieve a state called Khalistan. News18[/caption] The Centre added that the SFJ openly espouses the cause of Khalistan and in that process, challenges the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. This was later upheld by an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act tribunal headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel. Khalistan Commando Force The KCF has been listed as a terrorist organisation under the first schedule of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967. As per The Tribune, the KCF was formed in February 1986.

At the time, it was headed by Manbir Singh Chaheru – also known as ‘General Hari Singh’.

The group would finance its purchase of weapons for terrorism through bank robberies and kidnapping. As per Indian Express, the group was responsible for the murder of General Arun Vaidya – who was chief of the Indian Army during Operation Blue Star. The group was also responsible for several other high-profile attacks including an October 1988 bombing at Firozpur which left 10 Rai Sikhs dead as well as the murder of Major General BN Kumar –at the time the chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) – that same year. As per Indian Express, the KCF was involved in the 1989 murder of 19 students at Thapar Engineering College in Patiala as well as the kidnapping and murder of Rajan Bains – son of then SSP Batala Gobind Ram. After Chaheru was apprehended by authorities, Labh Singh aka Sukhdev Singh or Sukha Sipahi, became the KCF leader. Post Singh’s death in the 1990s, the KCF splintered into factions – one of which was taken over by terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar. Panjwar was himself designated as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020. Panjwar, who would once terrorise people in the Majha belt along the border with Pakistan, was in May shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Lahore. Khalistan Zindabad Force According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal website, the KZF is made up largely of Sikhs based in Jammu. Not much is known is about the outfit’s organisational structure and cadre. The terror outfit was formed in 1993 by Ranjeet Singh Neeta – a resident of Jammu’s Simbal camp and a small-time smuggler.

Singh, like Panjwar, is also based in Pakistan.

As per the Union home ministry, the KZF has two top members based in Germany – Bhupinder Singh Bhinda and Gurmeet Singh Bagga. The group is thought to have activists and sympathisers in Britain, Germany, Canada and some other European countries. The group has been involved in several bombings including the Jhelum Express near Ambala in December, 1996 and of two buses at Pathankot in April and June, 1997, The KZF was also involved in the attack on Rashtriya Sikh Sangat Chief Rulda Singh at Patiala in July 2009. The attack, planned out by the KZF chief, resulted in the Sangat chief later dying of his injuries. Khalistan Liberation Force The MHA banned the Khalistan Liberation Force and ‘all its iterations’ under the UAPA in June 2020, as per The Hindu. As per the Khalistan Extremism Monitor website, the KLF was formed at the end of 1986.

The KLF at the time was headed by Arur Singh.

As per the website, the KLF’s stated goal was to form Khalistan by triggering the secession of Punjab from India. It aimed to achieve this goal through violence. The KLF functioned in Punjab’s Tarn Taran, Majitha, Batala, Ludhiana, Patiala, Kapurthala, Ferozepur and Sangrur. It would also operate in Mumbai, Nashik, Allahabad, Kolkata and Varanasi. In 1992 the then KLF chief Pritam Singh Sekhon shifted the group to Pakistan. Post 1994, the group was left extremely deteriorated by India’s counter-terror operations. Its cadre strength by 1995 was thought to be a mere 23. The KLF was given a new lease of life by Pakistan’s ISI in 2009, as per the website. The KLF was previously headed by Harmeet Singh aka Happy P.HD – who was living in Lahore since 2008. The Pakistan-based KLF chief was killed in 2020, allegedly over a love affair with a married Muslim woman as well as a drug money dispute, as per The Tribune. With inputs from agencies