
At Canada hearing, Babbar Khalsa man denies violence
A British Sikh man, who is facing deportation from Canada, admitted at an immigration hearing here that he was once part of the banned Babbar Khalsa terrorist group but said he never advocated violence.
Gurmej Singh Gill, who had held permanent residency of Canada in the early 1980s, arrived in Vancouver to visit relatives in late November and was to return to his home in the British city of Birmingham on December 22, the Globe and Mail reported.
But he was ordered to appear before an immigration and refugee board adjudicator due to his alleged link to the banned outfit. The hearing was being held to decide whether he should be admissible into Canada.
Gill said he was the prime minister in exile of the aspirational Sikh homeland of Khalistan, and added that his faction never advocated violence.
He also added that the British Babbar Khalsa, which he led from 1984 to 1992, did not engage in violence.
Gill said the British Babbar Khalsa was founded after the June 1984 Indian Army operation codenamed 'Operation Blustar' at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India.
He said a few like-minded Sikhs got together and formed the organisation to demand justice.
Gill said that the group just wanted to make people aware about the existence of Babbar Khalsa groups in other countries through the media.
Geoff Rempel, the adjudicator of the case, reserved his decision and did not indicate when its ruling would be issued.
For years, Gill used the pseudonym Gurmej Singh Babbar and regularly visited British Columbia, where he once lived.
Babbar Khalsa was banned in Canada in 2003, years after it was linked to the June 23, 1985, Air India bombing that left 329 people dead off the Irish coast over the Atlantic.
Two men tied to the Babbar Khalsa were charged and later acquitted in the bombing, which remains Canada's deadliest act of terror.

Lucky draw for farmers who gave land for airport

Ludhiana woman posing as post office agent dupes 87-year-old of ₹11.6 lakh

Self-styled godman rapes, murders 22-yr-old in Ludhiana, dumps body in field

104-year-old “super senior” Devraj Agarwal gets the jab, says Covid vaccination is a must

1,767 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths in Pune district on Friday

PMC invites applications for staff at new civic-run medical college

PCMC collects Rs3.64 lakh in fines from restaurants flouting 11pm deadline

TCS Covid analysis finds schools, colleges biggest source of Covid-19 infection: div comm

Road rage: Chicken shop owner shoots at trader in Ludhiana

Consecutive days of moderate rainfall helped fill up Pune dams last year: IMD

Pune’s event calendar: March 6 to 11 March, 2021

Slam dunk: India, the next frontier in global basketball... Key ingredients to improve basketball talent

Third PIL against MP’s anti-conversion law; HC issues notice to state govt

Street Vendors’ Act: 5 years on, GMADA approves eight vending sites in Mohali
