Assassination of Bhai Paramjit Singh Panjwar

Bhai Paramjit Singh ‘Panjwar’, chief of the Khalistan Commando Force was assassinated today around 6am. He was shot at by gunmen on a motorcycle whilst he was out for his morning walk near where he lived in Johar Town, a suburb of Lahore, he died at the scene. Bhai Paramjit Singh had been declared ‘one of India’s most wanted’ for his prominent role in Sikh resistance.

Bhai paramjit singh panjwar

Bhai Paramjit Singh Panjwar has a long history of commitment to the Sikh struggle. Bhai Sahib left his worldly career in 1986 and joined the revolutionary work of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). Bhai Paramjit Singh assumed command of the KCF in 1990 following the 1988 martyrdom of his cousin, the legendary guerrilla commander Shaheed Jathedar Bhai Sukhdev Singh Ji, who is widely known through his nom-de-guerre ‘General Labh Singh’. Upon taking command of the KCF Bhai Paramjit Singh relocated to Pakistan around 1992, from where he was able to command Sikh insurgent strikes in India for many years.

In November 1992 Bhai Paramjit Singh’s 75 year old mother, Bibi Mohinder Kaur was abducted from her home by Indian police officials. In 1994 a case was brought against the then ‘Station House Officer’ Jagdeep Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar. Jagdeep was promoted to Assistant Inspector General, and Ashok died of natural causes during the decades long so-called investigation that in only in 2023 declared Jagdeep a ‘proclaimed offender’ as he did not attend a hearing, allegedly he had been relocated to Canada.

The impunity enjoyed by Indian forces and the treatment of the families of Sikh jujahroos and those sympathetic to the Sikh struggle is nothing new. In 1995 we saw the only measure of closure for Shaheed Bibi Mohinder Kaur when Shaheed Bhai Jaswant located her corpse among the 6,017 bodies he discovered secretly cremated by the Indian state:

Shaheed Bhai Jaswant Singh Khalra’s last speech in April 1995

Bhai Paramjit Singh, like other Sikh guerrilla commanders exiled in Pakistan, has long been a target of Indian security forces. From the initial reporting it’s clear that the Indian media had an inside line to what occurred today in Pakistan. News18 were the first media outlet to report, followed minutes later by Hindustan Times, both outlets reported that there were two shooters involved and the exact location of the shooting, his residence in “Sunflower Society Johar Town”. It’s obvious from this information that these particular details can only have come from Indian forces. Other key indicators of the involvement of the Indian state is how widely verbatim reporting is being proliferated across India media channels, and the social media activity of bot accounts and Indian nationalists celebrating the death of “wanted terrorist and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) chief”. This line is being repeated across accounts.

This most recent assassination of Bhai Parmjit Singh ‘Panjwar’ represents a larger pattern of Indian forces carrying out clandestine activities in Pakistan to target Sikh militant leadership. On 27th January 2020 Jathedar Bhai Harmeet Singh ‘PhD’ was assassinated by Indian operatives. His bhog was an important moment of reflection on the Sikh struggle. Even before this and following this there have been multiple attempts to assassinate other Sikh militant leaders in Pakistan.

Hopefully the Panth remembers his commitment to the struggle and declares Bhai Paramjit Singh a Shaheed of the Khalistan struggle. We leave you with the fearful remembrances of the Indian state when they heard the name of the panthic warrior and general that was Bhai Paramjit Singh Panjwar.

“Leader of the separatist group, the Khalistan Commando Force, 41-year-old Paramjit is wanted for reviving the Sikh insurgency, murder, conspiracy and smuggling arms.”
- Indian Express, 4th Dec 2008, New Delhi

“Panjwar had been arranging arms training to youths in Pakistan and remained engaged in supplying of arms and ammunition and subsequent infiltration into India for targeting Very Important Persons (VIPs) and economic installations. He had been broadcasting highly seditious and separatist programmes on Radio Pakistan, intended to incite minorities against the Government of India.”
- Indian Express, May 6th 2023, Amritsar.

“He was a key conspirator of the 2010 high-velocity twin bomb blasts in Patiala and Ambala cities. He has also been cited as the kingpin of the 2009 killing of Rulda Singh, head of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,”
- Wion News, May 6th 2023, New Delhi

“Panjwar was wanted for reviving Sikh insurgency, murder, conspiracy and smuggling of arms in India. He was also wanted for the murder of former army chief General AS Vaidya and for the country’s biggest bank robbery in Ludhiana.”
- News18, May 6th 2023, New Delhi