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Journalism of Courage
MILITANCY has been dormant in Punjab for 15 years,but its tentacles have retained a grip in small pockets across the globe. Days after the violence in Vienna,in which Dera Sachkhand leader Sant Ramanand lost his life, London-based Akash Radio published on its website an e-mail allegedly issued by the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) claiming responsibility for the attack. The e-mail attributed to the group stated that KZF was forced to resort to violence as Dera Sachkhand followers did not concede to earlier warnings to obey the Sikh Code of Conduct and failed to respect the Guru Granth Sahib by sitting parallel to it. On Thursday,the militant organisation vehemently denied having issued the e-mail and squarely blamed the heinous attack on Indian agencies. Previously,the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI),another terrorist outfit,had also blamed Indian agencies that were trying to split the Ravidasiya community from the Sikh Panth.
What is notable is that these once-feared groups are still on the radar of Indian authorities. In fact there are over 300 Punjab militants more than half of whom are living abroad in countries such as Pakistan,Germany and the US that are listed as terrorists. Five of these militants even featured on the list of 20 most-wanted terrorists sent by India to Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks last year:
Wadhawa Singh Babbar,chief of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)
He is reported to have personally supervised the assassination of Punjab chief minister Beant Singh on August 31,1995. He is also believed to have masterminded the January 2004 escape of the assassination-accused,Jagtar Singh Hawara,from Burail jail in Chandigarh. BKI has most famously been implicated in the Kanishka bombing case of 1985,in which an Air India flight from Toronto to New Delhi exploded mid-air,killing everyone on board. BKI,incidentally,is among the oldest and most organised Khalistan terrorist groups. Founded in 1981 in Canada and banned here,it is believed to have assumed its present form after the Baisakhi 1978 clashes between the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and Nirankaris. It remains active in the USA,Canada,UK,Germany,France,Belgium,Norway,Switzerland and Pakistan.
Lakhbir Singh Rode,chief of International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)
Rode is the nephew of late militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Wanted in a number of cases of arms smuggling,conspiracies to kill various political leaders and inciting religious hatred,he is believed to be hiding in Pakistan although he has been sighted in Dubai and other countries.
ISYF,which is banned in India,was founded in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1984,after Operation Blue Star,by Amrik Singh and Jasbir Singh Rode,Lakhbir Singh Rodes brother. It was declared a proscribed organisation in the UK,along with 20 more outfits in 2001. Initially,the ISYF split into two factionsone owing allegiance to the Rode brothers and the other led by Satinderpal Singh Gill,a former member of the second Panthic Committee. Soon thereafter,more splits occurred and several splinter groups emerged. These operate mainly in parts of the UK,Germany and US. At present,the ISYFs support-base is spread across the UK,North America,Canada and a number of Western European countries.
Paramjit Singh Panjwar,chief of Khalistan Commando Force (KFC)
While the group is more or less defunct,Panjwar was a terror in the Majha belt along the Indo-Pak border. He hails from Panjwar village in Tarn Taran district,one of the worst affected areas during the days of militancy. He is one of the longest surviving Punjab terrorists and is hiding in Pakistan. He is also wanted in several cases of murder,bombings and arms smuggling.
Gajinder Singh,head of Dal Khalsa
He surrendered to the Pakistan police after he had hijacked the Indian Airlines plane to Lahore in 1981. After serving his sentence in a Pakistan jail,he settled in Lahore,where he is known to take a keen interest in writing poetry. He is wanted by Indian authorities in the hijacking case among others.
Ranjit Singh Jammu Neeta,head of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) Wanted in some three dozen cases in Punjab,he has been living in Pakistan for more than 10 years. Known to have close links with the ISI and has colluded with Jammu and Kashmir terrorist groups like the Hizbul Mujahideen. KZF was classified as a terrorist organisation in 2005 by the European Union.
While Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) are the only two organisations with a strong base abroad,other outfits like Sikh Youth of Belgium or Sikh Youth of America work in coordination with both of them. Sources said that out of the 150-odd militants abroad,around 70 have taken political asylum or refugee status,mainly in European countries. While most are in Germany and the UK,others are in Belgium,France,Denmark and Norway.
A senior intelligence official said,All these militants took political asylum in the late 1980s and early 90s. They managed to convince these countries that the Indian state was baying for their blood. The Punjab Police through Interpol has issued red corner notices for 20 Punjab militants.
Among the most wanted are Harmit Singh alias Nettu,Rajinder Singh,Gurdev Singh and Gurdial Singhall all of them in Germany. Also on the list are Gurpartap Singh who is in Canada,Jagjit Singh,Jagtar Singh Panjola and Sukhwinder in the USA,and Tarseem Singh in Holland. There are many people who have taken political asylum abroad but they were not really wanted back in Punjab,as they were small-time miscreants. Some hard-core militants are also abroad,but have not taken asylum, said an intelligence official.
