Malkiat Singh Sidhu (died 27 April 1991) was the former Planning Minister of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was a member of the Akali Dal political party. In 1986, he was named

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

. On 25 May 1986, he was ambushed by four Sikhs who learned he was visiting the Canada on a private matter and was shot. Although he survived the assassination attempt, he was killed five years later at his home in India. Kitchener Waterloo Record, "Vancouver Sikhs in shock after politician shot dead", 29 April 1991

Assassination

Sidhu entered Canada to attend his nephew's wedding; although his entrance was not noted by Canadian authorities, Sikh extremists learned of the trip through "the efficiency of the Sikh intelligence network". It was later determined that "clear information on the pending attempt on his life" had been given to Canadian authorities two days prior, but since the attack occurred over a weekend, the information was not passed on to its necessary agency until the following Monday. While driving on an isolated gravel road near Gold River on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

with three other people, Sidhu's car was forced to stop when another vehicle stopped in front of them. The occupants exited their vehicle and began smashing Sidhu's car with hammers, firing five .32-calibre bullets into the car, striking Sidhu in the arm and chest. Sidhu feigned death, and the men ran back to their vehicle.ERTA
Sikh Extremism
Shortly afterward, Jasbir Singh Atwal, Jaspal Singh Atwal, Armajit Singh Dhindsa and Sukhdial Singh Gill were arrested at a police

roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: *Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events *Police chase *Robbery * Sobriety checkpoint In peaceful circumstances ...

. In February 1987, all four men were convicted and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. In September 1987, their cases were overturned when Michael Code, showed that the

wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

evidence against the four attackers had been obtained on a fraudulent warrant by the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; french: Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité, ''SCRS'') is Canada's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating int ...

(CSIS), who had provided a judge with faulty evidence from a source known to be untrustworthy.Farson, Anthony Stuart. "Security and intelligence in a changing world: new perspectives for the 1990s", p. 191 CSIS director Ted Finn resigned shortly after it was revealed that the CSIS affidavits were riddled with errors. However a government appeal upheld their convictions and sentences in June 1990.

Murder

Sidhu was one of five Indian politicians running for office who were killed in 1991, gunned down along with his bodyguard by militants on 27 April while walking from his house in Moga to visit a friend.

Sikh Times ''The Sikh Times'' is a Handsworth, West Midlands, Handsworth-based dual-language weekly newspaper primarily targeting Sikhism, Sikhs in the Birmingham area in England. It is written in both Punjabi language, Punjabi and English language, English ...

A Timeline of Sikh Religious and Political History
/ref>

Argus-Press ''The Argus-Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Owosso, Michigan. The name comes from two preceding papers: the ''Evening Argus'' and ''Press-American'', which merged in 1916. The paper's earliest antecedent is the Owosso ''American'', whic ...

Sikh militants suspected in murder of candidate
29 April 1991

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidhu, Malkiat Singh 1991 deaths Shiromani Akali Dal politicians Year of birth missing People murdered in Punjab, India State cabinet ministers of Punjab, India Assassinated Indian politicians Victims of the insurgency in Punjab Victims of Sikh terrorism Sikh terrorism in India Failed assassination attempts in North America Sikh terrorism in Canada

Assassination

Murder

See also

References