[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2118-E2120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SIKH HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST CALLS PUNJAB A POLICE STATE (PEOPLE'S 
                     COMMISSION MUST BE SUPPORTED)

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 1998

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, many of us have spoken out over 
the years about the ongoing human-rights violations by the Indian 
government in Punjab. I have recently come into possession of a very 
interesting document on that subject. Thanks to Dr. Gurmit Singh 
Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, I have seen a letter 
written by Professor Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary of the Akali Dal 
(Amritsar), in which he declares that Punjab is still a police state, 
even under the Akali-BJP government of Chief Minister Badal.
  ``Human rights abuse in Punjab in the last decade and a half has 
shattered the lives of a number of individuals and their families,'' 
Professor Singh wrote. ``Effectively, Punjab has been administered as a 
police state,'' he added. ``No fresh legal or political initiative has 
been taken to reinforce rule of law and protect the most endangered 
primary fundamental right--the right to life.''
  Jagmohan Singh writes that five false cases are still pending against 
longtime Sikh activist Simranjit Singh Mann, a political opponent of 
the Badal government. His is just one prominent case among many. Tens 
of thousands of Sikhs remain in Indian jails; with no charges pending 
against them. Alarmingly, some of them have been rotting in jail since 
1984! Human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who exposed the 
Indian government's brutal policy of mass cremations of Sikhs, was 
killed in custody by the police, according to a police witness. Jaspal 
Singh Dhillon, another prominent human-rights activist, was picked up 
by the police on a false charge as recently as July of this year. And 
if that wasn't enough, the police even picked up his attorney! Mr. 
Speaker, the judicial system in Punjab is a joke, no one is given an 
ounce of justice.
  Jagmohan Singh points out that no action has been taken to punish the 
police who have committed these atrocities against the Sikhs. In fact, 
the Badal government even boasts that it has taken no action against 
these police officers. More than 150 atrocities have been documented 
since the Akali government took power in Punjab in February of 1997.
  Professor Singh cites 15 separate ways in which human rights are 
violated in Punjab. Mr. Speaker, allow me to list just a few of these 
horrible and inhumane acts that police commit upon the innocent people 
of Punjab. Professor Singh has included, among other despicable acts, 
the promotion of police officers based upon the number of Sikh youth 
they have killed; bounties offered for the murder of particular 
individual Sikhs; forces occupation of public places, including houses 
of worship, like the Golden Temple in Amritsar; extrajudicial killings 
of political workers, relatives of political leaders and activists; and 
the planting of illegal weapons and explosives on unsuspecting people 
who are then labeled as ``militants'' or ``terrorists.''
  Jagmohan Singh strongly defends the work of the People's Commission 
in exposing the tyranny of the Punjab police, and supports its 
continuation. The Commission has come under vigorous attack from the 
Punjab government, which is desperately trying to interfere in its 
mission and close it down. The Commission issued 90 citations against 
police officers and has taken on 3,000 more cases. Now the government 
has gone to court to stop the People's Commission. I agree with 
Professor Singh that the Commission's work must continue so that police 
atrocities can be exposed, and will cease to be covered up by India's 
political sponsors.
  Mr. Speaker, Professor Jagmohan Singh's letter is a chilling 
description of the ongoing police state in Punjab. I am placing it into 
the Record, and I recommend to my colleagues that they read it 
carefully.

         Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary, Shiromani Akali Dal 
           (Amritsar),
                         Rahon Road, Ludhiana, September 24, 1998.
     Rtd. Justice V. K. Khanna,
     Chairperson, Panjab State Human Rights Commission, Kendriya 
         Sadan, Sector 9A, Chandigarh.
       Dear Justice Khanna: Is Panjab still a police state?
       Human rights abuse in Panjab in the last decade and a half 
     has shattered the lives of a number of individuals and their 
     families. Effectively, Panjab has been administered as a 
     police state. The situation did not change even after the 
     election of Beant Singh's Congress government in 1992 and 
     diminution of alleged extremist activities. The people of 
     Panjab expected that the political and human rights 
     environment would change with the election of the Akali Dal 
     Badal-BJP government in February 1997.
       Panjab, however, continues to be a police state. The 
     Panjabis now realize that all along they were chasing a 
     mirage. For the last 18 months, the Badal-BJP government has 
     taken no steps to undo the wrongs perpetuated during the last 
     decade. No fresh legal or political initiative has been taken 
     to reinforce rule of law and protect the most endangered 
     primary fundamental right--the right to life.
       Let us examine the scenario in present day Panjab:
       1. Release of Detenues: No political detenue, including 
     those who have been languishing for more than 8-10 years 
     without trial or protracted trial, has been released from the 
     jails of Panjab. Their cases have not been reviewed. No 
     attempt has been made to bring back detenues from Panjab 
     languishing in the jails of Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, 
     Maharashtra and Gujarat. There are five false cases still 
     pending against party president, Simranjit Singh Mann.
       2. Trial of Police Officers: No attempt has been made to 
     expedite the trial of police and other security force 
     personnel against whom cases of human rights abuse are 
     pending in various courts, including cases in the Panjab and 
     Haryana Court and the Supreme Court. Actually, the 
     prosecution has been delayed under one pretext or the other.
       3. Speedy Trial of the Guilty: To ensure speedy trial, it 
     was necessary to constitute a Tribunal with instructions to 
     conduct day to day proceedings to try the guilty police 
     officers, bureaucrats and politicians responsible for 
     executing and directing crimes against humanity. Despite the 
     poll promise to do so, the present government has failed to 
     take any initiative in this direction.

[[Page E2119]]

       4. Suspension or Dismissal of Police Officers: No police 
     officer or bureaucrat, at various levels in the hierarchy, 
     responsible for formulating policies and strategies for 
     harassment, torture, illegal detention and extrajudicial 
     murder of Sikh youth, in total violation of rule of law, has 
     been suspended or dismissed by the state government. No 
     enquiry has been constituted to expose and identify the 
     conspiracy of the police, the high-ranking bureaucrats and 
     the politicians in Delhi. No step has been taken in the case 
     of the involuntary disappearance of human rights activist 
     Jaswant Singh Khalra. The report of the police inquiry in 
     the extrajudicial murder of former Jathedar of Sri Akal 
     Takht Sahib, Bhai Gurdev Singh Kaunke has not been 
     released. Human rights and political activists have 
     documented the involuntary disappearance of Jathedar 
     Kaonke at the hands of the then Senior Superintendent of 
     Police of Jagraon police district and his officers in 
     January 1993. No attempt has been made to order enquiries 
     about gross abuses in all districts of Panjab to unearth 
     cases as have been detected in the ``cremation of 
     unclaimed bodies case'' in Amritsar district.
       5. Unlawful Promotion of Police Officers: A large number of 
     police officers, who had been promoted on the basis of the 
     number of Sikh youth killed by them, have not been reverted 
     to their original positions or ranks. To rub salt on our 
     wounds, police officers like SSP lqbal Singh, who has a 
     consistent track record of lawlessness and maltreatment has 
     been recommended for the President's medal for his 
     `meritorious' service. We cannot forget that it was SSP lqbal 
     Singh, then posted in Tarn Taran, who sent a police team 
     which tortured and extrajudicially murdered Kashmir Singh of 
     village Pandori Rukman of district Hoshiarpur on March 14-15, 
     1997. Kashmir Singh was propaganda secretary of the Youth 
     Wing of our party. Many such officers have been awarded 
     medals for their genocidal role. On the other hand, 
     responsible police officers, who have refused to participate 
     in the genocide of the Sikhs, are still not on active duty.
       6. ``Head Count'' of the Sikhs and Rewards From the State 
     Exchequer: Hundreds of Sikhs have been killed and hundreds of 
     policemen have become rich with the `head prizes'. With this 
     unlawful enrichment, police personnel have acquired movable 
     and immovable properties. The Panjab State Human Rights 
     Commission should carry out a detailed enquiry into the 
     Comptroller and Auditor General's Report of the last 15 years 
     and prepare a report on the `head prizes'. It will also be 
     befitting to find out the issuance of any more secret orders 
     or circulars, as the one issued by the then Director General 
     of Police, K.P.S. Gill on 30 August 1989 to the senior police 
     officers ordering the liquidation of 53 alleged militants 
     with price money against each name.
       7. Impoundment of Illegal Properties of Police Officers: A 
     survey of all the illegal properties acquired by police 
     personnel is a prerequisite for peace in Panjab. This 
     research will unearth properties not only bought but also 
     those which were ``just taken over''. Such properties and 
     moneys should be deposited with the state exchequer. Ill-
     gotten wealth has fuelled disrespect for human rights and 
     further desensitized the police.
       8. Police Districts and ``Peace'' in Panjab: Police 
     districts (Khanna, Jagraon, Majitha, Tarn Taran, Batala and 
     Barnala) were created on the ground that the law and order 
     situation require a small command area. However, although the 
     senior police authorities and the Badal-BJP government claim 
     that ``peace has descended on Panjab'', the police districts 
     have not been dismantled. De facto, the police administration 
     has become so top heavy that senior police officers, 
     including Senior Superintendents of Police of various 
     districts and the Director General of Police, Mr. P.C. Dogra 
     ingratiate a pliable section of the media in Panjab, without 
     fear of their political masters in Panjab and in active 
     connivance with their political masters in Delhi, to 
     perpetuate the hegemony of the police in Panjab. The state 
     government or the Panjab State Human Rights Commission has 
     failed to monitor the contradictory claims of the Panjab 
     police chief. The State Commission should procure data 
     regarding the cost of the exchequer of these police districts 
     and recommend the winding of the same.
       9. Occupation of Public Places by Police Administration: A 
     large number of public places, including parks, private 
     houses, in villages and cities, have been forcibly occupied 
     and converted into police stations, police posts and 
     torture centers. In spite of public protests, the Badal-
     BJP government has failed to direct the police authorities 
     to vacate these places.
       10. Extrajudicial Acts of the Police: In the last 18 
     months, a number of political workers, relatives of political 
     leaders and activists, (Kashmir Singh of Shiromani Akali Dal 
     (Amritsar), Vijayinder Singh- a nephew of party leader 
     Simranjit Singh Mann, Avtar Singh Karimpuri, General 
     Secretary of Bahujan Samaj Party), human rights activists 
     (Jaspal Singh Dhillon) witnesses in human rights abuse cases 
     (Rajiv Randhawa, Kirpal Singh) and a multitude of alleged 
     militants, have been tortured, harassed, detained or 
     extrajudicially killed by the police. Families of slain 
     militants continue to face the vengeance of the police. Even 
     in cases not related to militants, there has been a spurt in 
     deaths in police custody. No attempt has been made by the 
     Badal government to dignify the police and to train them to 
     respect human rights.
       11. ``Confiscation'' of Explosives: The Director General of 
     Police has ``confiscated'' tons of explosive material. Apart 
     from the news-story that such material was recovered from 
     ``such and such militant'' or ``former militant'', the DGP 
     has failed to inform the people of Panjab about the 
     ineffectiveness of the police and other security agencies 
     when the material was brought inside Panjab (that is, if we 
     believe the police version to be correct). Is it inertia or 
     is it a well planned conspiracy to allow the monster to grow 
     and then make a big fuss to catch it?
       We strongly suspect that the movement of arms, ammunition 
     and explosives in Panjab is a new strategy of the pervert 
     masterminds of the Panjab police-Home Ministry nexus. We 
     cannot forget that journalist Dhiren Bhagat of the Indian 
     Post was killed by Indian security agencies, in 1993, soon 
     after he had documented the illegal and unlawful movement of 
     arms and ammunition by the Indian state through its secret 
     services.
       We are closely monitoring the progress made by the police 
     in recovering the huge arsenal of arms and ammunition 
     ostensibly recovered from militants and now missing from 
     police records and stores. According to a communication from 
     the Additional Director General of Police (Crime), Mr. 
     Jarnail Singh Chahal (as mentioned in internal memos to all 
     district SSPs in Panjab in September 1997) as many as 10,451 
     weapons comprising AK47s, AK57s, rifles, revolvers, pistols, 
     rocket launchers, rockets are missing. There is no iota of 
     doubt that they have either been distributed as bounties to 
     the pet vigilantes of the Panjab police or to the Congress 
     leaders of Panjab. To make matters worse, a large number of 
     such arms have been given to untrained ``special police 
     officers'' to provide security cover to a large number of 
     people for whom such security is not a requirement but a 
     status symbol.
       The Panjab State Human Rights Commission must study the 
     records of the Firearm Bureau at Phillaur and the police 
     stores (Malkhanas) of police stations in the Panjab.
       We request the Panjab State Human Rights Commission to 
     prepare a compilation of the total amount of explosives 
     seized by the Panjab police in the last one year and inform 
     the people about the disposal of the same, lest it be used to 
     implicate more innocent youth of Panjab.
       12. Extension of Services of Panjab Police Chief. We 
     strongly urge the Commission to look into the reasons cited 
     by the state government while granting extension to the 
     Director General of Police, Mr. Puran Chand Dogra, six 
     months ago. The Commission must also look into the reasons 
     for the state government to recommend the case of DGP Mr. 
     Dogra (bypassing the rules laid down by the Central 
     Administrative Tribunal) for another extension of six 
     months. Media reports say that the government has sought 
     the extension ``to combat terrorism in Panjab''. This 
     investigation alone by the State Human Rights Commission 
     will be enough to know whether ``Panjab is still a police 
     state'' and whether ``peace has descended on Panjab''.
       13. Human Rights Defenders in Danger: Defending human 
     rights is a dangerous activity in all banana republics or 
     near-banana republics. Panjab has been governed as such. It 
     is not for the first time; even during his earlier tenure as 
     chief minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal resorted to 
     extrajudicial methods to crush opposition in the state. 
     Today, either under pressure or in complicity with the 
     police, human rights defenders are behind bars. Those still 
     working continue to face the wrath of the state in one form 
     or the other.
       14. Why Forgive and Forget? Human rights include civil and 
     political rights. Therefore politics and human rights are 
     related to each other. Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, 18 months 
     ago, had promised to the people of Panjab to investigate the 
     causes and factors; and identify the individuals and the 
     political parties responsible for the tragedies in Panjab and 
     to pinpoint the administrative and political accountability 
     for the same. Nothing has been done so far. The present 
     signature tune is ``Forgive and Forget''. This was the tune 
     of the Congress and the BJP against which the traditional 
     Akali leadership instigated hundreds upon thousands of Sikh 
     youth to revolt! Panjab and its people have forgiven enough 
     and forgotten a lot. Today is the time to prosecute each one 
     of the alleged perpetrators--executive, police and 
     political--for crimes against humanity.
       15. The Only Incomplete Positive Step: The only positive 
     step take by the present government is the formation of the 
     Panjab State Human Rights Commission. Unfortunately no 
     changes have been made in the powers and authority of the 
     commission. The commission can investigate only those cases 
     that fall within the last one year. So, the commission, 
     according to the current mandate, cannot redress the fears, 
     grievances and genuine complaints of families of victims of 
     the last decade and a half.


             From Police state to People's Commission . . .

       In this frightening police state scenario, what should the 
     people do? The people have come together and formed a 
     People's Commission that will listen to their woes and 
     deliberate upon the merits of each case of violation of human 
     rights in the Panjab, irrespective of the time lag. The 
     Commission has been formed at the initiative of dedicated 
     human rights and political activists under the aegis of the 
     ``Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Panjab.'' 
     This Commission comprises of Retd. Chief

[[Page E2120]]

     Justice D. S. Tewatia, Retd. Justice H. Suresh and Retd. 
     Justice Jaspal Singh. After the first session of the 
     commission at Chandigarh on 8-9-10 August 1998, the affected 
     families see a glimmer of hope. The People's Commission is 
     the people's response to the non-fulfillment of election 
     promises by the present government at the state level and the 
     incapability of the ruling coalition at the Centre to rectify 
     the wrongs of yesteryears. If people can form governments 
     surely they can form commissions as well; can they not?
       Now, the Congress, the BJP and the Police (the trinity 
     responsible for gross human rights abuse in the Panjab 
     through acts of omission and commission) are pressurizing the 
     Badal government to wind up the People's Commission, calling 
     it ``illegal'' and ``harbinger of disturbance'' and other 
     names.
       We appeal to the Panjab State Human Rights Commission, to 
     advise the state government, not to stoke the fires that are 
     lying buried. Though we contest the ``quality of peace'' that 
     has ``descended on the Panjab'', any attempt by the state 
     ``not to let people cry for their beloveds'' will boomerang. 
     The endorsement of the Panjab State Human Rights Commission 
     of the work of the People's Commission will go a long way to 
     enhance respect for human rights and to smother the 
     politically motivated propaganda against this humble attempt 
     by the people to assuage the hurt of victims and their 
     families. This certainly is part of the moral mandate of any 
     human rights body, more so of a state-sponsored Human Rights 
     Commission.
       Moreover the labour of the People's Commission will not go 
     in vain. The report of the People's Commission will not meet 
     the same fate of hundreds of Commissions set up by the Indian 
     state under the Commissions of Enquiry Act. It will perhaps 
     be useful for the Human Rights Commission to conduct a 
     statistical analysis of the total number of Commissions of 
     enquiry instituted by the state and those whose 
     recommendations have been accepted.
       The focus of the work of the People's Commission is also 
     not at loggerheads with the working of the judiciary as is 
     being propagated by the wanton statements of the Panjab 
     Advocate General, Congress and BJP leaders and the Panjab 
     police chief. Their consternation is more about the 
     uncovering of truth about their shameful deeds. Those 
     opposing the People's Commission will do well to remember 
     that before the official Srikrishna Commission was setup to 
     pinpoint the responsibility for the riots in Bombay in 1992-
     93, a People's Commission was set up by an independent body, 
     The Indian Peoples Human Rights Commission. Justice S.M. Daud 
     and Justice H. Suresh made an extensive enquiry and submitted 
     a report on the role of the government and the police in the 
     rioting in Bombay. The report was first published in August 
     1993. The evidence collected by that People's Commission made 
     the task of witnesses much easier when they deposed before 
     the official Srikrishna Commission.
       It may also be noted that the panel of judges on the Indian 
     People's Human Rights Tribunal have conducted enquiries into 
     the firing in Arwal in Bihar in 1987, the burning of 646 huts 
     of tribals in Vishakapatnam district by the Andhra Pradesh 
     government in 1988, the role of the Provincial Armed 
     Constabulary in the riots in Meerut in 1988, the role of the 
     Karnataka government in anti-Tamil riots and the role of the 
     Tamil Nadu government in anti-Kannadiga riots in 1992.
       At the international level, the journey for trial of guilty 
     officers, bureaucrats and political leaders responsible for 
     crimes against humanity, which started with the Nuremberg 
     trials has fructified this year in the formation of an 
     International Criminal Court.
       The Panjab State Human Rights Commission and the National 
     Human Rights Commission will do well to train the Indian 
     police, paramilitary and military forces to recognize the 
     harsh reality that sooner or later nemesis will catch up. 
     Transparency and not secrecy is the watchword. ``Reasons of 
     state'', ``demoralization of the police forces'' and 
     ``amendments to the Criminal Procedure code to make it 
     difficult to prosecute police officers'', ``orders of 
     superiors'', ``ignorance of law, especially international and 
     humanitarian law'' will not be adequate to protect either the 
     protagonists or the perpetrators of human rights abuse.
       We are concerned that no serious effort has been made by 
     the government of Panjab or the Commission to popularize the 
     commission and its work among the people of Panjab. No public 
     sitting of the commission has taken place since its 
     formation. The people of Panjab are eager to know the number 
     of cases in which suo moto action has been taken by the 
     Commission. We look forward to the first annual report of the 
     Panjab State Human Rights Commission and we anxiously wait to 
     see how it nails down the state government and the police 
     machinery. Should the commission require details on the above 
     points, we shall gladly furnish them.
       We appeal to you and through you also to the overindulgent 
     Advocate General of Panjab, Mr. Gurdarshan Singh Grewal, to 
     advise the present State government in Panjab whether it 
     wants to join the sanguineous trinity of the Police-Congress-
     BJP or to find a respectable place in contemporary history, 
     particularly in a year, when the international community, 
     inspite of India's abstention, has formed the International 
     Criminal Court to try individual cases of gross human rights 
     abuse.
                                           (Prof.) Jagmohan Singh,
                                                General Secretary.

     

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