Talwinder Singh Parmar

Talwinder Singh Parmar
1st Chief of Babbar Khalsa
In office
1979–1992
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byWadhawa Singh Babbar
Personal details
Born26 February 1944
Panchhat, Kapurthala State, British India
(now in Punjab, India)
Died15 October 1992(1992-10-15) (aged 48)
Kang Araian, Phillaur, Punjab, India
NicknameTalwinder Singh Babbar

Talwinder Singh Parmar (or Hardev Singh Parmar; 26 February 1944 – 15 October 1992)[1] was an Indian militant, Sikh separatist, and the mastermind of the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing, which killed 329 people. It was the worst single incident of aviation terrorism in history until the September 11 attacks in the United States.[2][3] In addition, another bomb was meant to explode aboard Air India Flight 301 in Japan the same day, but it exploded while the plane was still grounded, killing two people. Parmar was also the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), better known as Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant group involved in the Khalistan movement.[4][5]

Talwinder was accused of founding Babbar Khalsa International along with Sukhdev Singh Babbar in 1978, and leading Babbar Khalsa in Canada.

In 1981, he was accused by India of killing 2 Punjab Police officers and was arrested in 1983 in West Germany. He was released in 1984 after which he immediately returned to Canada.[6] After the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, Parmar returned to India and was allegedly killed in a gun fight with Punjab Police on 15 October 1992.[7] He was later named as the mastermind of the 1985 Air India bombing.[8][9]

  1. ^ United Press International (17 June 1986). "7 SIKHS CHARGED IN PLOT". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. ^ Rae, Bob (21 December 2018). "The report of the Honourable Bob Rae, Independent Advisor to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, on outstanding questions with respect to the bombing of Air India Flight 182". publicsafey.gc.ca. Government of Canada. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  3. ^ Tasker, John Paul (15 March 2018). "Jagmeet Singh now rejects glorification of Air India bombing mastermind". CBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Babbar Khalsa International". 21 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)". South Asian Terrorism Portal. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference CBCextradite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "US to freeze assets of Babbar Khalsa, Intl Sikh Youth Federation Anita Inder Singh Jun 28, 2002". The Indian Express. Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  8. ^ Rabson, Mia (15 March 2020). "Jagmeet Singh now says he accepts that Sikh extremist masterminded Air India bombing". The Canadian Press. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Men acquitted in Air India bombings". NBC News. 16 March 2005. Retrieved 3 March 2022.