Jaswant Singh Khalra

Jaswant Singh Khalra
Jaswant Singh Khalra speaking at Gurudwara Sahib in Canada.
Born (1952-11-02)2 November 1952
Amritsar, Punjab, India
Died (1995-09-06)6 September 1995[1]
Nationality Indian
Occupation Human Right Activist
Home town Khalra village,district Taran Taaran Sahib.

Jaswant Singh Khalra (1952–1995) was a Sikh human rights activist from Punjab, India. He had exposed truth about mysterious disappearance of as many as 25,000 Sikh youths and how they were cremated by Punjab police in different cremation grounds of the state after killing them in Police custody.

Family

Jaswant Singh Khalra's grandfather Harnamm Singh was an activist in the Ghadar movement for the independence of India.[2] Jaswant Singh is survived by his wife, and two children.

Activism

Jaswant Singh Khalra was a bank director in the city of Amritsar in Punjab during the militancy. Following Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, police were empowered to detain suspects for any reason, ostensibly as suspected terrorists. Police were accused of killing unarmed suspects in staged shootouts and burning thousands [3] of dead bodies to cover up the murders.[4]

As per CBI investigation records quoted by SC division bench in their judgement on Khlara custodial death case, he was a human rights activist working on abduction, elimination and cremation of unclaimed human bodies during disturbed period.Court observed that Police has been eliminating young persons under pretext of being militants and disposing their dead bodies without any records .[5]

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 those who had been killed and later burned by the Police.[6] Further research revealed other cases in 3 other districts in Punjab, increasing the list by thousands.[7]

The National Human Rights Commission released a list of some of the identified bodies that cremated in the police districts of Amritsar, Majitha and Tarn Taran between June 1984 to December 1994. That list can be viewed here.

Murder and Coverup

On 6 September 1995, while washing his car in front of his house, Khalra was allegedly abducted by Personnel of Punjab Police and taken to Jhabal police station.[8] Although witnesses gave statements implicating the police[8] and have named former police chief Kanwar Pal Singh Gill as a conspirator,[9] 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.[8] Those accused of his murder were not charged for ten years,[10] though one of the suspects committed suicide in 1997.[8] On 18 November 2005, six Punjab police officials were convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for Khalra's abduction and murder.[11] On 16 October 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).[12][13]

On 11 April 2011, the Supreme Court of India dismissed the appeal filed against the sentence to Life imprisonment for four accused scathingly criticizing the atrocities committed by Punjab Police during the disturbance period.[14][1]

Memorial

The City Council of Fresno has Approved to change the name of Victoria Park after the Sikh Human Rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra on 26 August 2017. After bringing the motion into the City Council for changing the name of Victoria Park after the name of Jaswant Singh Khalra in City of Fresno, The Council Member Oliver Baines said, "Jaswant Singh Khalra for Punjabi/Sikh Community is like Martin Luther King Junior for my community."

References

  1. 1 2 "Activist Khalra custodial death: SC upholds life in jail for Punjab cops". Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Kumar, Ram; Singh,Amrik; Agrwaal, Ashok; Kaur, Jaskaran (2003). Reduced To Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. Kathamandu (Nepal): South Asia Forum for Human Rights. ISBN 99933-53-57-4.
  3. ↑ "Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India,", Human Rights Watch & Ensaaf Joint Report, 18 October 2007. pp. 29-30.
  4. ↑ "Who Killed the Sikhs". Journeyman Pictures. 4 June 2002. "a portion of this documentary can be viewed here"
  5. ↑ "khalra custodial death-sc upholds life in jail for punjab cops". Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  6. ↑ SBS Dateline. April 2002. "a portion of this episode on Punjab can be viewed here"
  7. ↑ Kumar, Ram; Singh,Amrik; Agrwaal, Ashok & Kaur, Jaskaran (2003). Reduced To Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. Kathamandu (Nepal): South Asia Forum for Human Rights. ISBN 99933-53-57-4 "Biography of Khalra, Chapter 1, Reduced to Ashes (pdf, 5 MB)" p.54.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "A mockery of justice: The case concerning the "disappearance" of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined". Amnesty International.
  9. ↑ "K.P.S. Gill visited Khalra in jail, says witness". The Tribune, Chandigarh, India. February 17, 2005.
  10. ↑ Meenakshi Ganguly. "Other Screams of Terror". Human Rights Watch.
  11. ↑ "Punjab Cops Convicted of 1995 Murder of Activist Khalra". Ensaaf. Archived from the original on 23 November 2006.
  12. ↑ "Khalra murder case: HC grants life imprisonment to 4 cops - Chandigarh - City - NEWS - The Times of India". The Times of India. 16 October 2007. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  13. ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". Tribuneindia.com. 1995-09-06. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  14. ↑ PDF Copy of the Decision “Judgement of the Supreme Court of India in C.A Nos. 523 of 2009”
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