Paramjit Kaur Khalra, wife of slain human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, on Monday urged Akal Takht to form a “people’s committee” to determine the actual number of people missing, the number of unidentified bodies, and those killed in alleged fake police encounters in Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s.
Kaur’s statements came in the wake of renewed public interest in the Khalra case following the release and subsequent removal of Diljit Dosanjh starrer ZEE5 starrer ‘Satluj’. The film earlier titled ‘Punjab 95’ is based on the life of the activist.
It is noteworthy that the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal abode of the Sikhs, will hold a ‘prayer’ on Tuesday for eternal peace for the Sikh youth whose cases were exposed by Khalra, and seek justice for the affected families.
In a post on website
“The military attack on Sri Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in June 1984, the Sikh genocide in November 1984, the unidentified bodies, torture, and thousands of fake encounters with police in the years that followed continue to demand accountability and justice,” she added.
Read also | A petition to prevent illegal screening of Diljit Dosanjh’s film Satluj after Zee5 removal has been filed in the Punjab-Haryana High Court.
The military operation under Operation Blue Star was carried out between 1 and 10 June 1984 to evict militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
“The Congress government during that period carried out this genocide and human rights violations, and subsequent governments also failed to play any role in achieving justice,” Kaur claimed.
It also accused the previous Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government of failing to ensure accountability and provide support and official positions to police officers accused of wrongdoing.
The incumbent AAP government (in Punjab) has also failed to bring the convicted police personnel to justice, she alleged, alleging that the BJP-led Center has also faced allegations of targeted killings on foreign soil.
Kaur said the entire Sikh community is looking forward to Akal Takht with the hope that it will provide courageous and impartial leadership in accordance with the principles laid down by the Sikh Gurus.
“We respectfully request Jathedar Sahab to form a people’s committee to determine the real number of people who went missing in Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s, the unidentified bodies, and those killed in fake encounters with police,” Kaur said.
“Those unidentified bodies, whose identities were revealed by the martyrdom of Sardar (Jaswant Singh) Khalra, should be given their rightful place in the Central Sikh Museum (in Amritsar), as they deserve,” she said.
Kaur also said that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) should provide financial assistance to the families of the victims.
“Satluj”, directed by Honey Trehan, depicts the life of Khalra, who investigated the “illegal” burning of thousands of “unidentified” bodies in Punjab between 1984 and 1994.
Khalra was kidnapped from outside his home in Amritsar in September 1995. It was later found that he had been murdered although his body was never found.
Earlier titled ‘Punjab 95’, the film was pulled from OTT platform ZEE5 for viewers in India two days after its release on July 3 after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cited security concerns.
“No political party or individual should be above accountability and the law. Those who carried out the genocide of innocents, denied justice, concealed the truth of the Sikh genocide, or supported human rights violations, must be held accountable in the people’s court; all their official honors must be revoked, and they must face social boycott,” Kaur demanded in her post.
Since her husband’s murder, Kaur has been working as a human rights activist under the banner of Mission Khalra Organisation.
In November 2005, a CBI court sentenced former DSP Jaspal Singh and ASI Amarjit Singh to life imprisonment for Khalra’s kidnapping and murder, while four other policemen were sentenced to seven years imprisonment each.
In 2007, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Amarjeet Singh while enhancing the sentences of the four other convicts to life imprisonment, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011.
The controversy over the film “Satluj” has turned into a political issue in Punjab, with a private mass association demanding the ban be lifted and SAD announcing a community screening of the film across the state.
In some places, Sikh bodies also hold film screenings on village grounds.
