The Canadian broadcaster CBC News recently interviewed Santokh Singh Khela. Khela serves as an organiser for the banned terrorist organisation Sikhs for Justice’s Ottawa division and is the mastermind behind the AI 112 bombing plot.
In May 1986, five members of the Khalistani terrorist organisation Babbar Khalsa were charged with plotting to blow up Air India Flight 112 in New York City and Santokh Singh Khela was one of them.
Anti-corruption and anti-terrorism investigative journalist Mocha Bezirgan took to X on October 21, to share a snippet of the interview, raising concerns about Canada’s position on allowing pro-Khalistani terrorists to operate freely within the country.
“CBC interviews Sikhs for Justice’s Ottawa organizer, Santokh Singh Khela, who was previously sentenced to life imprisonment by a Canadian court for conspiring to blow up Air India flight 110 departing from JFK, New York, in 1986. He served almost a decade in jail before a judge ordered a stay of proceedings over disclosure matters. Why did the U.S. not extradite him and try him for the conspiracy? Santokh was presented with an award in Calgary this year by Ajaib Singh Bagri, who pledged to kill 50,000 Hindus at the WSO founding convention in 1984 and was previously charged for the other bombings that killed 331 people a year before Santokh’s conspiracy,” Bezirgan wrote.
CBC interviews Sikhs for Justice's Ottawa organizer, Santokh Singh Khela, who was previously sentenced to life imprisonment by a Canadian court for conspiring to blow up Air India flight 110 departing from JFK, New York, in 1986.
— Mocha Bezirgan 🇨🇦 (@BezirganMocha) October 21, 2024
He served almost a decade in jail before a judge… pic.twitter.com/Tnxg7lRZ02
Another journalist, going by the handle @OnTheNewsBeat, shared the same snippet and pointed out how the CBC anchor didn’t disclose to viewers who she was platforming. There were no references to Khela’s past or present activities.
The anchor here doesn't disclose to viewers who she is platforming. No references to his past, or his present activities
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) October 22, 2024
The 🇨🇦 people deserve to be told the truth of who the media is calling Sikh activists are plain terroristshttps://t.co/MSdiVdNr6F
Mocha Bezirgan also, in a separate post, shared a picture of Santokh Singh Khela with Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar before his murder.
A picture of Santokh Singh Khela (right) with Hardeep Singh Nijjar (middle) before his murder.
— Mocha Bezirgan 🇨🇦 (@BezirganMocha) October 23, 2024
Global News named the 2 men in the picture but didn't bother naming Babbar Khalsa's infamous Santokh Singh Khela, so I thought I'd. https://t.co/lzAe9tw1Qq pic.twitter.com/cLzNkQJxMA
It is worth noting that Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been fiercely criticizing India for over a year regarding the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in Nijjar’s killing, citing “credible allegations” but without presenting any evidence. India strongly refuted these baseless accusations, escalating the already tense relations between the two nations.
After accusing Indian agents of being behind Nijjar’s assassination in June 2023, Trudeau recently admitted that his claims were based solely on intelligence and that he had no concrete evidence. In an interview, he acknowledged that there was no proof directly linking India to Nijjar’s killing when the allegations against New Delhi were initially made.
Santokh Singh Khela is associated with the banned terrorist organisation Sikh for Justice
Khela is also the organiser for the Khalistan referendum conducted by Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) at Dashmesh Gurdwara.
Sikhs For Justice was banned by the Indian Government on July 10, 2019, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for anti-India activities. The Indian government designated its founder, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a terrorist. The organization has announced Referendum 2020, demanding a separate state of Punjab from India. Since its inception, the organization has been trying to lure the youth of Punjab with monetary rewards for instigating war against the Indian government.
Khela masterminded the Air India 112 bombing
In May 1986, five members of the terrorist organisation Babbar Khalsa were charged with plotting to blow up Air India Flight 112. Months after the proceedings, while the Canadian court freed three men, it found Santokh Singh Khela and Kashmir Singh Dhillon guilty of conspiring to commit mass murder by blowing up Air India (AI) Flight 112 which originated at JFK airport in New York City. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987. The sentence was later overturned.
The Canadian government claimed that the alleged plot was conceived on April 4 1986, targeting an Air India flight departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport on May 30 in New York. All five men involved were from Montreal, Quebec. It was later revealed that Santokh Singh Khela had been under surveillance by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) since at least May 1985, when they recorded a phone call he made to Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind of the Air India Flight 182 bombing.
When Khela and his associates were sentenced to life, Quebec Superior Court Justice Claire Barrette-Joncas said in her passing sentence that Santokh Singh Khela and Kashmir Singh Dhillon are examples to the world of how Canada treats terrorists.
“The crime you were found guilty of is so mind-boggling that the primary end of these sentences must be deterrence, a firm notice to you and any would-be terrorist that such conduct is not to be considered lightly in Canada,” she said.
Khela was awarded by Ajaib Singh Bagri, a close associate of the mastermind of the Kanishka bombing and who pledged to kill 50,000 Hindus
As mentioned by journalist Mocha Bezirgan Santokh Singh Khela was this year, presented with an award in Calgary by Ajaib Singh Bagri. Notably, Ajaib Singh Bagri was a close associate of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind of the Kanishka bombing, which happened a year before the Air India Flight 110 bombing plot. Ajaib Singh Bagri is the same person who had also pledged to kill 50,000 Hindus.
The bombing of Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, was one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in aviation history. The Boeing 747 aircraft, operating as “Kanishka” and en route from Montreal to London, was destroyed mid-air by a bomb, killing all 329 people on board, most of whom were Canadian citizens of Indian descent. The bomb was planted in the plane’s cargo hold, and it exploded over the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Ireland.
The investigation into the bombing revealed that the conspiracy had been planned and executed in Canada, where members of the Sikh terrorist group Babbar Khalsa, including Talwinder Singh Parmar and Inderjit Singh Reyat, were involved.
Pierre Trudeau is vastly blamed for the Kanishka bombing, as it was only after the Trudeau-led government saved Parmar he started preparing for the bombing. In 1984, Parmar told his fellow Khalistanis that “Indian planes will fall from the sky”.
In the same year, Ajaib Singh Bagri, a close associate of Parmar, pledged to kill 50,000 Hindus. He said at the founding convention of the World Sikh Organization, “Until we kill 50,000 Hindus, we will not rest!” It was reported by Milewski, who extensively covered the Khalistani movement in Canada and abroad.
To date, many consider the Kanishka bombing one of the darkest moments in Canada’s history, and it highlighted the growing influence of Khalistani extremists operating from within the country.
The bombing of Air India Flight 182 stands as a tragic reminder of the impact of terrorism and the long-lasting scars it leaves on victims’ families, while also bringing attention to the international dimensions of extremism.
Despite Santokh Singh Khela’s involvement in the AI 112 bombing plot and his close ties with Khalistani terrorist organizations and the masterminds behind the Kanishka bombing, which primarily killed Canadians, the Canadian media outlet not only provided him with airtime but also discreetly concealed his past and ongoing antecedents. The broadcast overlooked his role in masterminding the Air India Flight 112 bombing plot, downplaying the gravity of his involvement in what could go down history as another deadly terrorist attack.
