Other People's Wars - Caledonia Wake Up Call

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Other Peoples’ Wars -- Chapter TwoCommando Force was inaugurated as its military wing 17 . At this time, the KCF hadapproximately 400 fighters. 18 In North America, they operate as the Council of Khalistan 19 .The BK were not participants in this coalition.By early 1987, internal differences and egos split the newly created group. Gurbachan SinghManochanal, one of the five original Panthic Committe members broke away and formed theBhindranwale Tiger Force for Khalistan (BTFK). In 1988, members of the Bhindranwalefamily convinced another member of the new Panthic Committee to join them and form the CarJuhujharu Jathebande (CJJ). Another breakaway group, the Khalistan Liberation Force(KLF), joined the CJJ after the death of its leader. 20The majority of the breakaway groups from the KCF fell under the influence of the BK. TheKCF, and its remaining sub-groups, was the main armed coalition that offered an alternative tothe BK. The over-arching objective of the KCF was to mount an assault upon the Indian state,as opposed to the more religiously inspired campaign of the BK.All-India Sikh Student’s Federation (AISSF): The AISSF was originally the student’swing of the Akali Dal Party, but had broken off in the 1970s. Several years prior to OperationBlue Star, Bhindranwale had made contact with its leader Amrik Singh, who was the son of hisown teacher while he studied for the priesthood. 21 The organization had already established areputation for robbery, assassination, and bombings in the name of Khalistan. Whilecooperating with Bhindranwale, the AISSF also made inroads into Pakistan.Amrik Singh died with Bhindranwale in the Golden Temple during Operation Blue Star. Sincethen, the organization has fragmented into two major groups: one headed by Daljit Singh Bittoo,and the other by Manjit (or Lal) Singh. The Singh-led faction posed the most problems forsecurity forces in India, due to their propensity for violence in the pursuit of a separate state.Indian authorities have always believed that Manjit Singh had some involvement in the 1985Air India attacks. In 1992, he was tracked down and arrested by Indian’s counter-terroristpolice unit. Singh was charged with conspiracy to kidnap the granddaughter of Prime MinisterRao. At the time he was also a high-ranking member of the KLF. 22 After weeks ofinterrogation he allegedly confessed to having lived in Canada while the bomb that broughtdown Air India 182 was being assembled in British Columbia. 23 He is also reported to havelived illegally in Canada from 1984 to 1988. 24International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF): The ISYF is the international arm of the All-India Sikh Student’s federation. 25 It was born in Britain in 1984, and soon expanded into17 Pettigrew p.82.18 ibid.19 Tatla p. 117.20 ibid. p.83.21 Yaeger pp. 224 and 227.22 Toronto Sun, July 31, 1992.23 Toronto Sun, July 7, 1992.24 Toronto Sun, July 31, 1992.25 Mahmood, p. 157.38
Other Peoples’ Wars -- Chapter TwoCanada under Lakbir Singh Brar, who had family ties to Bhindranwale. 26 It became plagued byintense divisions in 1988. Currently, there are two significant factions of the ISYF, one led bySatinder Pal Singh, and the other by Jasbin Singh Rode. Rode’s faction included Brar, thenunder considerable pressure from Canadian immigration authorities. Competition between thetwo camps has been fierce over the control of both temples and Sikh community newspapers inCanada.As early as 1983, Indian intelligence suspected Pakistani involvement in supporting theterrorist groups. The Punjab shares a border with Pakistan of some 555 kilometres. Due northof the border lies the disputed region of Jammu-Kasmir, where Pakistan’s Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI) and Al-Qaeda have been providing support for Muslim militants for years. Aninteresting statistic emerges within the violent pro-Khalistan movement; 70% of its hard-coresupport came from only 220 of the Punjab’s 13,000 villages. The vast majority of these arelocated close to the Punjab-Pakistan border. 27With the protection of a massive army presence, a Congress government was elected in 1992in the Punjab. There were protests, although violence and intimidation still kept many votersfrom going to the polls. The presence of the Congress Party was taken as a direct challenge tothe militants, who set out on a massive campaign in 1992 of assassinating anyone representingthe central government.The militant violence was countered by a reorganization of the security services and anincreased role for the military in the region. Aggressive counter-insurgency and counter-terroristoperations yielded dramatic results, including the elimination of Canadian Talwinder SinghParmar, a prominent figure in the BKI, who was killed at the Indo-Pakistani border.Although seriously constrained, members of several terrorist groups have been able to mountlimited operations against the Indian government. In 1995, the BK assassinated the ChiefMinister of the Punjab, the closely related KLF also claimed responsibility. 28 A bombingcampaign was foiled in 1999 when a BK member was arrested with several detonators and 18kgs of RDX, -- a plastic explosive. Indian authorities allege that the intended targets were bothadministrative buildings and officials in the Punjab. The BK suspect, according to police,confessed to having ties to the Khalistan-Kashmir Jihad Force. 29Sikh Terrorist Activities in Canada Since 1985Punjab-based individuals and organizations are still listed in the organizations and individualsdeemed as “targets” in the CSIS Counter-Terrorism Program. 30 Unfortunately, Canadacontinues to be a destination of choice for the violent radicals who still carry on the armed26 Tatla, Darshan Singh The Sikh Diaspora: The Search for Statehood (Seattle: University of WashingtonPress, 1999) p. 119.27 Joshi, Manoj, “Combating Terrorism in Punjab: Indian Democracy in Crisis” in Conflict Studies No. 261. p.17.28 US State Department, 1995 Patterns of Global Terrorism.29 Express News Service, June 18, 1999.30 Canadian Security and Intelligence Service, “Terrorism: the Threat to Canada”: May 3, 2000.39
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Appendix: A List of Canadian Terror
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Mahjoub, Mohamed Zeki. A Toronto ar
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