Babbar Khalsa

Babbar Khalsa International (BKI, ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, bəbːəɾ xɑlsɑ), better known as Babbar Khalsa, is a Sikh militant organisation that aims to create an independent Sikh nation of Khalistan in the Indian state of Punjab. It has used armed attacks, assassinations and bombings in aid of that goal, and is deemed to be a terrorist entity by various governments. Besides India, it operates in Pakistan, North America and Europe, including Scandinavia. BKI was created in 1978 after clashes with the Nirankari sect of Sikhs. It was active throughout the 1980s in the Punjab insurgency and gained international notoriety in June 1985, for killing 329 civilians (mostly Canadians) in Air India Flight 182 in Canada's worst case of mass murder and for the associated 1985 Narita International Airport bombing - a bungled attempt at mass murder on a second Air India flight on the same day. Its influence declined in the 1990s after several of its senior leaders were killed in encounters with Indian police. The organisation is officially banned and designated as an international terrorist organisation by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Malaysia, and India. The name Babbar Khalsa is taken from the Babbar Akali Movement of 1920, which fought against the British Rule of India. The modern-day BK was created in 1978 by Talwinder Singh Parmar and Sukhdev Singh Babbar after the 1978 Sikh–Nirankari clash. On 13 April 1978, while observing the founding day of the Khalsa, the Sant Nirankari Mission clashed with the Damdami Taksal and the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, aggravated by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Fauja Singh in which 15 people died. BK was formed with the support of Bibi Amarjit Kaur with Talwinder Singh as the president. A criminal case was filed against sixty-two Nirankaris by the Akali-led government in Punjab but all the accused were acquitted. The Punjab government Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal decided not to appeal the decision. The case of Nirankaris received widespread support in the media.