LONDON: Sikh Labour councillor Parbinder Kaur is being investigated by her own party for allegedly sharing posts that support Khalistani terrorist groups and militants who have assassinated public figures in India.
Kaur represents Smethwick on Sandwell council and was standing in the local elections on Thursday.
According to the Daily Mail, she allegedly praised Babbar Khalsa online, the Khalistan movement responsible for killing 329 passengers with a bomb downing an Air India flight over the Atlantic Ocean in 1985.It is proscribed as a terrorist group in India and UK.
The Daily Mail also said she shared a post on a WhatsApp group of Labour councillors and activists in praising one of Babbar Khalsa’s founders, Sukhdev Singh Babbar, who claims to have killed 76 Nirankaris, for his “legendary impact on the struggle”.
In 2022 she allegedly shared an image of Dilawar Singh Babbar, a Punjab police officer who became a suicide bomber to assassinate Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, with the caption “Shaheedi Diwas”.
TOI has tracked down a post of her’s on Facebook from 2021 in which she shared an image of Sikh militants Sukdev Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda, who assassinated Congress politicians Lalit Maken and Arjan Dass in 1985, and Gen Arun Vaidya (Retd) in 1986. They were both hanged. Her post says: “Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Bhai Sukdev Singh Sukha climbed the gallows with smiles. They had wanted to bring sweets for the executioners, but perhaps they were not allowed. They kissed their nooses and even though they wanted to put them around their own necks, were not allowed to do so…”
A spokesperson for Labour Friends of India said: “The Labour party is carrying out an internal investigation into the accusations and we just have to wait for the outcome of the investigation.”
Rami Ranger, chairman of the British Sikh Association, said: “My advice to these councillors who represent just a handful of people is that they should work to improve social cohesion. By appeasing a group of people who do not represent the vast majority of Sikhs, they are damaging the interests of the loyal and hardworking Sikh community in the UK.”
A Sandwell council spokesperson said the council was aware of the Daily Mail article and directed TOI to the Labour party. Kaur and the Labour party did not respond to a request for comment.
Kaur represents Smethwick on Sandwell council and was standing in the local elections on Thursday.
According to the Daily Mail, she allegedly praised Babbar Khalsa online, the Khalistan movement responsible for killing 329 passengers with a bomb downing an Air India flight over the Atlantic Ocean in 1985.It is proscribed as a terrorist group in India and UK.
The Daily Mail also said she shared a post on a WhatsApp group of Labour councillors and activists in praising one of Babbar Khalsa’s founders, Sukhdev Singh Babbar, who claims to have killed 76 Nirankaris, for his “legendary impact on the struggle”.
In 2022 she allegedly shared an image of Dilawar Singh Babbar, a Punjab police officer who became a suicide bomber to assassinate Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995, with the caption “Shaheedi Diwas”.
TOI has tracked down a post of her’s on Facebook from 2021 in which she shared an image of Sikh militants Sukdev Singh Sukha and Harjinder Singh Jinda, who assassinated Congress politicians Lalit Maken and Arjan Dass in 1985, and Gen Arun Vaidya (Retd) in 1986. They were both hanged. Her post says: “Bhai Harjinder Singh Jinda and Bhai Sukdev Singh Sukha climbed the gallows with smiles. They had wanted to bring sweets for the executioners, but perhaps they were not allowed. They kissed their nooses and even though they wanted to put them around their own necks, were not allowed to do so…”
A spokesperson for Labour Friends of India said: “The Labour party is carrying out an internal investigation into the accusations and we just have to wait for the outcome of the investigation.”
Rami Ranger, chairman of the British Sikh Association, said: “My advice to these councillors who represent just a handful of people is that they should work to improve social cohesion. By appeasing a group of people who do not represent the vast majority of Sikhs, they are damaging the interests of the loyal and hardworking Sikh community in the UK.”
A Sandwell council spokesperson said the council was aware of the Daily Mail article and directed TOI to the Labour party. Kaur and the Labour party did not respond to a request for comment.
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