Jaswant Singh Khalra

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Jaswant Singh Khalra
Jaswant Singh Khalra

Jaswant Singh Khalra (1952-1995) was a Sikh human rights activist during the 1980s and 1990s who fought against human rights violations by police in Punjab, India. His tireless efforts against human rights violations in Punjab and later kidnapping, torture, and death at the hands of police made him a martyr in the eyes of Sikh people.[1]

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[edit] Family

Baba Sura Singh, one of the ancestors of Jaswant Singh Khalra was a leader in the army of Banda Singh Bahadar that fought the Mughal Empire eventually leading to finish of Mughal rule in India[2]. Jaswant Singh Khalra's grandfather Harnam Singh was an activist in the Ghadar movement for the independence of India[2].

[edit] Activism

Jaswant Singh Khalra was a bank employee in the city of Amritsar in Punjab during the Khalistan uprising. Following Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, police were empowered to detain Sikhs for any reason, ostensibly as suspected terrorists. Police were accused of killing unarmed suspects in staged shootouts and burning thousands of dead bodies to cover up the murders.[1]

While searching for some colleagues who went missing, Jaswant Singh Khalra discovered files from the municipal corporation of the city of Amritsar which contained the names, age, address of thousands of Sikhs who had been killed and later burned by the Police.[1] Further research revealed other cases in 3 other districts in Punjab, increasing the list by thousands.[citation needed]

[edit] Murder and Coverup

In 1995, while washing his car in front of his house, Khalra was abducted by under-cover commandos of Punjab Police at behest of Senior Superintendent of Police Ajit Singh Sandhu and taken to Jhabal police station.[3] Although witnesses gave statements implicating the police [3] and have named former police chief Kanwar Pal Singh Gill as a conspirator[4], police denied having ever arrested or detained him, and claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.

In 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation found evidence that he was held at a police station in Tarn Taran and recommended the prosecution of nine Punjab police officials for murder and kidnapping.[3] Those accused of his murder were not charged for ten years[5], though one of the suspects committed suicide in 1997.[3] On November 18, 2005, six Punjab police officials were convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for Khalra’s abduction and murder. [6] On October 16, 2007 a division bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court, chaired by Justices Mehtab Singh Gill and A N Jindal, extended the sentence to Life imprisonment for four accused Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, Jasbir Singh (all former Sub Inspectors) and Prithipal Singh (former Head Constable) [1] [2].

[edit] Last international speech

The following are excerpts from the English version of the last international speech given by Jaswant Singh Khalra[7]:

I have come to Canada to talk about a report. That report describes the story of oppression of the past ten years. When we started that report, we had before us hundreds of reports, but there was one question to which none of those reports provided the answer. That question was: Thousands of mothers await their sons even though some may know that the oppressor has not spared their son’s lives on this earth. But a mother’s heart is such that even if she sees her son’s dead body, she does not accept that her son has left her. And those mothers who have not even seen their children’s dead bodies, they were asking us: at least find out, is my son alive or not?

But when we started talking about this issue, then countless mothers, countless sisters weren’t ready to say that their loved one has disappeared. They said, "Son, if you take this issue further and our son is still alive, they will kill him – don’t talk about this, we are not going to tell even you."

So we produced a rough estimate for the public that in Amritsar district alone, 2,000 children are missing and the government must tell us where they are. The government was quiet. Then, we filed a petition before the High Court on behalf of some families, asking the Court to tell us where those children are. The government then gave an affidavit denying any knowledge about these children.

When the issue progressed, then the person in-charge of the oppression, KPS Gill said in a press conference in Amritsar, "These Human Rights Wing folks are not doing anything on human rights. They have one motive, to prop up their agenda, so that there is no peace in Punjab . They are ISI [Pakistan ’s Inter-Service Intelligence] agents and are hatching a conspiracy to discourage the police machinery to re-incite militancy." KPS Gill went onto the extent of saying, "I’ll tell you where those kids are." He said, "These kids are in Europe, in Canada , and in America , where they are earning their daily wages. And these human rights organizations are telling us that thousands of kids have disappeared." This was a challenge to us. This was a challenge to that truth which we sought to bring forward. Then, brothers, in order to bring this truth to the public, accompanied by evidence, we put ourselves on an arduous task where we had to confront various dangers. But we went there where our brothers had gone. We went to the cremation grounds. We went and asked the employees there just tell us this much that during this time, how many dead bodies did the police give you? Some said we burned 8-10 every day. Some said there was no way to keep an account; sometimes a truck full of bodies came, and sometimes 2-4 dead bodies. When was said we need an account, they told us we could get the account from one place: "The police gave us the dead bodies, and the municipal committee gave us the firewood."

So brothers! when we received this truth, we went to that country’s High Court. We knocked on the doors of Punjab and Haryana High Court, and asked, Oh Oppressors!, at least give us the detail that which dead body belongs to whom so that we can tell each mother, sister, so we can tell each father. So they can say their prayers to Almighty which they have been keeping in their heart, "Almighty, please let my son rest at your feet"... But that country, that calls itself the largest democracy and lover of justice, its High Court told us,"This is not public interest litigation. This creates a huge issue. Instead, do this - Send to us each of that family to whom the dead bodies belong and we will give them the information." A mockery has been made of the law. A mockery has been made of the Sikh nation. And a mockery has been made of those people, who are not asking for anything other than a death certificate.

But the biggest court of all is the people’s court and we want to go to the people’s court on a worldwide level and say to the world, "You have called us terrorist. You have called us communalists. But those whom you have called the prophets of democracy, recognize their reality and then tell us who is ultimately the terrorist and how is righteous?" We can say often that we have suffered much oppression. But we have not had the practice or training of keeping a complete record of that oppression. About 50,000, about 1 million – we say all of that. The educated people of the world do not trust that, they need exact figures. And for that, I also say, that you all should unite on this issue. This issue is not just the issue for those families. This is the [Sikh] nation’s issue, humanity’s issue. You all should present this issue, in whatever way you can. Condemn that government, that machinery, that justice system, and tell the truth to people.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c India: Who killed the Sikhs. World News Australia (April 3, 2002).
  2. ^ a b Kumar, Ram; Singh,Amrik; Agrwaal, Ashok & Kaur, Jaskaran (2003). Reduced To Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. South Asia Forum for Human Rights. ISBN 99933-53-57-4. 
  3. ^ a b c d A mockery of justice: The case concerning the "disappearance" of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined. Amnesty International.
  4. ^ K.P.S. Gill visited Khalra in jail, says witness. The Tribune, Chandigarh, India (February 17, 2005).
  5. ^ Meenakshi Ganguly. Other Screams of Terror. Human Rights Watch.
  6. ^ Punjab Cops Convicted of 1995 Murder of Activist Khalra. Ensaaf.
  7. ^ Jaswant Singh Khalra's last international speech in Toronto (April 1995), with English subtitles.

[edit] External links

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