Avtar Singh Khanda (1988–2023) was a UK-based activist and journalist. He was the vice-president of the youth wing of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). In 2023, Khanda came into limelight when a group of Khalistan supporters vandalized the Indian High Commission in London, UK during protests against Punjab Police’s attempt to arrest Waris Punjab D chief Amritpal Singh. Khanda was considered the guru of Amritpal Singh. He died on 15 June 2023 at Sandwell Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Avtar Singh Khanda was born in 1988 (age 35 years; as of 2023) in Rode village, Moga district of Punjab province, British India (Punjab, India). He studied in a model school run by Arya Samaj. Due to his father’s image as a separatist in India, various agencies including the police would often raid his premises, due to which the family shifted their home to various places in Punjab such as Patiala, Ludhiana and Moga .
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 8″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: dark brown
Family
Avtar Singh Khanda belonged to a Sikh family.
parents and siblings
His father Kulwant Singh Khukrana was a terrorist and was associated with ‘Khalistan Liberation Force’ and ‘Khalitan Commando Force’. He died on 3 March 1991 in a police encounter during the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. Khanda’s uncle, Balwant Singh Khukrana, also died during the anti-Sikh riots. Avtar Singh had a younger sister.
Wife
There is not much information about his marital status.
religion/religious views
Avtar Singh Khanda followed Sikh religion.
“Mission Khalistan”
Khanda was pro-Khalistan. He was often seen expressing his views on separatism in various interviews. Khanda strongly advocated the establishment of a separate Sikh state.
livelihood
Presenter
Avtar Singh worked as a presenter for the shows ‘Shera Di Koum’ and ‘Itihaas’ on Khalsa Television (KTV) channel, also known as KTV Global. On 21 June 2022, Khalsa Television Limited surrendered its UK broadcasting license after the United Kingdom’s communications regulator, Office of Communications (Ofcom), found that the channel’s show ‘Prime Time’ was promoting separatist propaganda that incites violence. Used to promote.
Avtar Singh Khanda (left) interviewing a worker on KTV channel
controversies
Indian High Commission in London vandalized
On March 21, 2023, Avtar Singh Khanda was taken into custody in the case of vandalism at the Indian High Commission in London. Two days before the arrest, i.e. on 19 March 2023, pro-Khalistan supporters removed the Indian flag from the top of the High Commission building in protest against the Punjab Police action against Amritpal Singh and his followers. The protest included pro-Khalistan and other anti-national elements who gathered outside the High Commission in London and raised slogans of ‘Khalistan Zindabad’. During the protest, a person attempted to take down the tricolor, but security personnel intervened and stopped it from happening. The man was later identified as Avtar Singh Khanda.
Avtar Singh Khanda along with a group of Khalistan supporters vandalized the Indian High Commission in London in 2023 while trying to take down the national flag of India from the top.
an IED expert
Khanda was mentioned in an Indian report prepared for British authorities on Khalistani activities in 2015. India expressed concern about Khalistani groups conducting ideological preaching sessions and practical bomb-making demonstrations for Sikh immigrants in some Gurdwaras in Britain. Intelligence reports revealed that Khanda was planning to organize radical training courses for Sikh youth, which included instructions on assembling improvised explosive devices (IEDs) using locally available chemicals. According to sources, similar courses were held at Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Birmingham in December 2014 and Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Glasgow in January 2015.
Death
He died on 15 June 2023 at Sandwell Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Some media sources claimed that he died of food poisoning, while others claimed that he died of blood cancer.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Avtar Singh was born to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, an Indian militant. In an interview, he said that due to repeated visits of police officers to their house in search of his fugitive father Kulwant Singh Khukrana, his family was unable to live in their house; However, Bhindranwale provided a place for his family to live in his house.
- Khanda was considered a close associate of Khalistani nationalist Paramjit Singh Pamma (associated with Babbar Khalsa International) and Jagtar Singh Tara, the mastermind of the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.
- As a student, Khanda avoided attending morning assemblies in school. In an interview, he recalled experiences from his school days with a strong sense of hostility towards the nation, citing his belief as a Sikh that singing the national anthem of India was against the principles of the Sikh community. As a result, he deliberately avoided attending the morning meetings.
- While talking about his childhood memories in an interview, Khanda remembered how his classmates used to make fun of him by calling him a terrorist’s child. He said his mother had told him that his father, Kulwant Singh Khukrana, who was killed by the police, was living abroad and would soon return to her; However, in the 5th grade, he finds an old newspaper at home, which reveals the truth about his father’s death. Following the death of Kulwant Singh Khukrana on 3 March 1991, police officials arrested Khanda along with his mother and sister at 5 am on 1 April 1991 for investigation purposes.
- In an interview, Khanda shared his views on the 1984 Sikh massacre and said that it was a pre-planned attack on the Sikh community. He claimed that the Indian government had been planning the genocide since the country gained independence in 1947.
- It is claimed that Avtar Singh Khanda groomed Amritpal Singh when he was in Dubai. According to Khanda, although he had been in touch with Amritpal for a long time, he had never met him in person.
Waris Punjab De Chief Amritpal Singh
- Indian intelligence agencies believe that Khanda had links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
- Avtar Singh often shared posts against the Indian government and its leaders. In one such post, he was seen strangling the statue of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in a museum.
Avtar Singh Khanda strangling the statue of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in a museum
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn