By the early 1980s , the Khalistan movement , led by Sikhs demanding a homeland for themselves within India , had become very active , attracting support from many of the Sikh diaspora in Canada . The movement soon developed into the Punjab insurgency , which polarised the Sikh community in Canada between Khalistani separatists and those supporting continued union with India . The agitation of the Sikhs in general further increased following the Indian Army 's 1984 assault on the Harmandar Sahib complex and Akaal Takht , the holiest Sikh Gurdwara and temporal seat of the Sikhs , which resulted in the deaths of many Sikh civilians in addition to armed militants . assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards that October acting in their own individual capacity to avenge the operation . This was followed by the bombing of Air India Flight 182 over the Atlantic Ocean in 1985 , which killed all on board and also thought to be in retaliation for the operation and the mass killings of Sikhs that had followed Indira 's assassination
bombing of Air India Flight 182
Air India Flight 182
Amarjeet Sohi