Indianeagle1 at 03:34, 24 April 2026

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{{short description|Indian Sikh militant (1970–1995)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
{{NPOV|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dilawar Singh Babbar
| image = Dilawar Singh Babbar.jpg
| birth_date = 18 August 1970
| birth_place = [[Panjgrain]], [[Punjab, India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1995|8|31|1970|8|18|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Chandigarh]], India
| death_cause = [[Suicide bombing]]
| known_for = Assassination of [[Beant Singh (politician)|Beant Singh]]
| parents = Harnek Singh<br>Surjit Kaur
}}
'''Dilawar Singh''' (18 August 1970 – 31 August 1995) was the assassin of [[Beant Singh (chief minister)|Beant Singh]], the [[Chief Minister of Punjab, India|chief minister of Punjab, India]] amid the [[Insurgency in Punjab, India|insurgency in Punjab]].<ref name=ndtv>{{cite news | url = http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/hanging-for-beant-singh-assassin-on-saturday-rules-court-190557 | title = Will Balwant Singh Rajoana be hanged on Saturday? 10 big developments | publisher = NDTV | date = 2012-03-28 | accessdate = 2012-03-29 }}</ref> He was a serving [[Punjab Police (India)|Punjab Police]] officer and became a suicide bomber for the [[Babbar Khalsa|Babbar Khalsa International]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120325/edit.htm#1|title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions|publisher=|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref> He assassinated Beant Singh by blowing up his bullet-proof car at 5 p.m. on 31 August 1995 in the city of Chandigarh killing the chief minister and 17 others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/punjab/terrorist_outfits/BKI.htm|title=Babbar Khalsa International|publisher=|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="ensaaf.org">{{Citation
|title = Violent Deaths and Enforced Disappearances During the Counterinsurgency in Punjab, India: A Preliminary Quantitative Analysis
|url = http://www.ensaaf.org/publications/reports/descriptiveanalysis/reportwcover.pdf
|year = 2009
|last1 = Romesh
|first1 = Silva
|last2 = Marwaha
|first2 = Jasmine
|last3 = Klingner
|first3 = Jeff
|accessdate = 2012-08-14
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717050107/http://www.ensaaf.org/publications/reports/descriptiveanalysis/reportwcover.pdf
|archive-date = 17 July 2011
|url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Why-Balwant-Singh-Rajoana-never-appealed-against-his-death-sentence/articleshow/12458451.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202185742/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-29/india/31253965_1_beant-singh-first-execution-dilawar-singh|url-status=live|archive-date=2 February 2014|work=[[The Times of India]]|title=Why Balwant Singh Rajoana never appealed against his death sentence|date=29 March 2012 |access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="thehindu.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article3255057.ece|title=Why Balwant Singh Rajoana shouldn't be hanged|author=Yug Mohit Chaudhry|work=The Hindu|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120319/edit.htm#5|title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions|publisher=|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref>

==Family==
Dilawar Singh's mother, Surjit Kaur, and father, Baba Harnek Singh,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160309014657/https://business.highbeam.com/408843/article-1P3-1328735731/khalsa-radicals-remember-beant-singh-assasin HighBeam]</ref> live in Guru Nanak Nagar, [[Patiala]], [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]], India. His father was a government employee. Dilawar Singh had two brothers.

== Assassination of Beant Singh ==
In Punjab between 1992 and 1995, at a time when the [[Khalistan movement]] was [[Insurgency in Punjab, India|active in the state]] and the Indian government was aggressively seeking to control the movement, during [[Beant Singh (politician)|Beant Singh]]'s tenure, many innocent Sikhs were killed unlawfully.<ref name="ensaaf.org"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/journals-magazines/article2/0103/dark-clouds-of-state-repression-police-excesses-have-broken-punjab|title=Dark clouds of state repression: Police excesses have broken Punjab|publisher=|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref>

Dilawar Singh, who was a police constable at that time, conspired with [[Balwant Singh Rajoana]], a police officer, to kill Beant Singh. The attack on 31 August 1995 resulted in the death of Beant Singh, Dilawar Singh and 17 others,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17532832|title=India puts Sikh radical Rajoana's execution on hold|work=BBC News|date=28 March 2012 |accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref> and, on 25 December 1997, backup police officer Rajoana confessed his involvement<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120319/edit.htm#5 | title = Promises to keep | author = Saurabh Malik | work = The Tribune | location = Chandigarh | date = 2012-03-19 | accessdate = 2012-03-29 }}</ref> while blaming the Indian government that it has murdered its own innocent people and promoted and honored the killers of Sikhs including chief minister Beant Singh. He refused to contest the court proceedings because of his lack of trust in the [[Judiciary of India|Indian judicial system]], and death penalty was awarded to him.<ref name="thehindu.com" />

== Aftermath ==

On 23 March 2012, he was awarded with the title of "National Martyr" by the [[Akal Takht]], the highest temporal seat of the [[Khalsa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/go-to-president-and-get-beant-killer-released-akal-takht-orders-badal/927736/|title=Go to President and get Beant killer released, Akal Takht orders Badal|date=24 March 2012 |publisher=|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref>

The Khalsa Action Committee (KAC), an umbrella organization of several Sikh organizations, honoured the father and mother of Dilawar Singh, Harnek Singh and Surjit Kaur with the Shaheed Baba Deep Singh gold medal at a function in the city of [[Amritsar]].<ref>[http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/5460/38/ PunjabNewsline.com - Punjab radical Sikhs honour human bomb's family] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715133534/http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/5460/38/ |date=2011-07-15 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070901/punjab1.htm|title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Punjab|publisher=|accessdate=1 April 2015}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
[[Harjinder Singh Dilgeer|Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer]], SIKH HISTORY IN 10 VOLUMES, The Sikh University Press, Belgium, 2012.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babbar, Dilawar Singh}}
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:Punjabi Sikhs]]
[[Category:Indian police officers]]
[[Category:Suicides in India]]
[[Category:Assassins of heads of government]]
[[Category:People from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Indian mass murderers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian murderers]]
[[Category:Suicide bombers]]
[[Category:Indian assassins]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian police officers]]
[[Category:Sikh terrorism in India]]
[[Category:Insurgency in Punjab]]

Dilawar Singh - Revision history

Indianeagle1 at 03:34, 24 April 2026