Unheard: Atrocities On Sikh Women in Punjab

Sikh women crying

“If any action occurs in this village, every single male is going to be taken out and shot. Then we’re going to take all the women to our camp and there we’re going to create a new breed for Punjab.”

Brig. RP Sinha addressing assembled Sikh villagers on March 8, 1991, International Women’s Day

And this was the way International Women’s Day was celebrated in Punjab. The untold story of the Sikh Resistance Movement is the story of Sikh women. It is a feature of Punjabi culture that atrocities on women are rarely reported and remain hidden. Families feel ashamed to speak of the treatment women received at the hands of Indian Security Forces, but this story must be told.

Many Sikh women participated in the Sikh resistance movement as fighters. Like their sisters from past ages, Sikh women joined their brothers in the fight for freedom. Many brave Singhnees fought side by side with their Singhs and attained Shaheedi. The examples of Shaheeds Bhai Ramininderjit Singh Taini Babbar and Bibi Manjeet Kaur Babbar , Bhai Pritpal Singh and Bibi Harjeet Kaur, etc are notable.

Sikh women often worked as messengers for Sikh Resistance groups as well as preparing hideouts and serving tired Sikh fighters.

But unfortunately, many Sikh women were also the target of the bloody thirsty Indian Security forces. Sikh women were ruthlessly tortured, not only physically but also mentally. They were used as tools to force the surrender of Sikh fighters who were their relatives and also as a means of humiliating families. When Sikh women were arrested with their husbands, the husbands were often forced to watch the rape of their wives. Rape was used as an interrogation tool.

The Indian Forces also began a program of “shudhee karan” which was a code name for the rape of Sikh women. They joked that the offspring of their rapes would change the genetic makeup of the Sikh community and they would kill the Resistance in this way. Many rape victims took their own lives, unable to live with the ongoing humiliation at the hands of the Indian police.

Shaheed Bibi Amandeep Kaur

The first example of the atrocities heaped upon Sikh women is that of Bibi Amandeep Kaur.

Bibi Amandeep Kaur was the sister of Bhai Harpinder Singh Goldy aka. Pamma of the Khalistan Commando Force. She was only twenty when she was arrested, tortured, raped and then killed by the Punjab Police.

Bibi Amandeep Kaur, before her Shaheedi was on the run but had the courage to tell her story to human rights workers.

Here is her story in her own words, shortly before she was murdered:

“Jaswinder Singh Sraa son of Surjeet Singh of Jassowal village Ludhiana district. Was born and brought up on the UK. He presently lives in Mississauga Canada.

He came to India on October 12, 1991 for marriage on October 24th. We along with my father Jaswant Sngh, village Headman Bhag Singh and Member of Panchyaat Meet Singh went to the office of the sub-registrar, Rampura Phul, for registration of the marriage. As we came out of the courtroom, the SHO of Phul, picked up three of us, me, my husband and my father. We were taken to Phul Police Station where SSP Kahlon, SP Mohkam Singh, DSP Aulah and SP of Operations were present.

The SSP on seeing us, promptly ordered that my two male relations be stripped naked in my presence. He then took out the picture of his slain son and addressing them remarked that he had taken the revenge for the murder (by dishonouring me, the sister of an underground Sikh activist).

Kahlon then started abusing my husband and father. He took hold of a lathi to beat the two. It was then the turn of his subordinates who beat us with their leather belts. The SSP ordered that my husband and father slap each other.

After this cruel exercise, we were blindfolded. I was relieved of my two wedding rings, a pair of ear-rings and one golden chain. From my husband, the SSP snatched $500 and a bracelet of 3.5 tolas and his wedding ring. My father was similarly robbed of Rs. 2500. I and my husband were put into our van PCL-8433. We heard the SSP directing his staff to set our house on fire and bring the wife and younger daughter of Jaswant Singh (my mother and sister) to the police station for similar treatment.

After Kahlon left, we were brought back to the police station. While my husband and father were put in the lock-up, I was kept out for maltreatment [i.e. for sexual assault].

Early next morning we three were taken to Sardulgarh by our van. On October 27, my mother Surjeet Kaur was brought to us. She told us her story of dishonour [rape], torture and maltreatment. She was kept in a Rampura police station and at the head office of CIA Bathinda.

In our absence, the police from Rampura Phul ransacked our house and removed all our belongings. The village panchayat was not let anywhere near the house. No seizure report was prepared and handed over to the panchayat or anyone else.

I, my mother and father were kept in Sardulgarh police station for 12 days. But my husband was moved to Phul police station on October 29. The SSP was present there. He ordered my husband’s release on October 30, telling him to forget about his marriage to me and leave India immediately, which he did the next day. In the meantime, the village panchayat came to know of our detention at Sardulgarh and they came there to rescue us but we were removed stealthily to Boha police station.

At Boha, I was not given even water for washing under SSP’s order. We were maltreated there [the woman was reluctant to give details of the mistreatment].

After eight days, the three of us were removed from Boha to CIA Bathinda. My mother and I were released from three weeks of illegal detention. My father was kept in CIA Bathinda and at Phul and was produced in a court on November 30. A case was registered against him.

While we were in custody, Jaswinder Singh, who happens to be brother of my father, telephoned DGP KP Gill at telephone No. 753-546840 requesting him to intervene but Gill told him that Kahlon did not listen to his advice.

We have learnt that the SSP had picked us up because on October 23, 1991, some millitants had abducted six traders of Phul and the police suspected my 16-year-old brother Harpinder Singh Goldy aka. Pamma’s hand in the abduction. My brother had gone underground in the wake of police harassment in August 1991 when he was studying in class 10 + 1 .

I have gone underground to escape further humiliation and torture because the SSP Harkishan Kahlon is after me, for unknown reasons. Because of the “treatment” given to my husband, he has left me and does not wish to keep me as his wife any longer.”

Shaheed Bibi Amandeep Kaur

Bibi Amandeep Kaur stayed in hiding until January 21 1992. The police then played a sinister game. They asked he to return to her house, returning all her property and insisted they would not harass her any more. They also bailed her father the day before. Jaswant Singh did not trust the police so he did not return home. Amandeep Kaur did. When her mother was out, two gun men with masked faces came on behalf of SSP Bathinda, Kahlon, and shot Bibi Amandeep Kaur dead on January 21st at 7:30pm.

Shaheed Bhai Harpinder Singh 'Goldy'

Bhai Harpinder Singh Goldy, brother of Bibi Amandeep Kaur, at age 18, also later sacrificed his life for the cause of Sikh freedom.

Another such case is of Bibi Gurmeet Kaur. Bibi Gurmeet Kaur was a student of the 10 grade at village Lehrkaa near Kathoo Nangal. Bibi Gurmeet Kaur and her older sister Bibi Parmjeet Kaur had gone to visit their father Swarn Singh and brother Satnam Singh who were in prison for giving shelter to Sikh Resistance fighters. They had returned home on April 21, 1989 when the Indian police raided their home and arrested Bibi Parmjeet Kaur. The police told villagers that the Deputy Commissioner wanted to record her statement. Parmjeet Kaur was kept in custody one night and then returned home. Next Gurmeet Kaur was arrested and kept for two nights. She too was released but threatened with dire circumstances if she told what had happened to her. Gurmeet Kaur did not remain silent and recounted what had happened to her.

When Gurmeet Kaur was brought to the police station, she was stripped naked and tortured in the verandah of the police station in plain view of all the police officers. That night, the police blindfolded her nd locked her in a room. In that room, drunken Indian Police officers took turns raping her. Gurmeet Kaur fell unconscious and when she woke the next morning, she found herself covered in blood and stark naked.

The next day, Gurmeet Kaur was tortured again. The perverse and twisted police officers went so far as to put salt and chili peppers into Gurmeet Kaur’s private parts.

On April 24, when Gurmeet Kaur was released, she could not walk. She was taken to hospital for treatment by the villagers.

Sikh women crying

These cases are not unique. Gang rapes and humiliation were common in Punjab. 19 year old Baljeet Kaur, sister of Sikh fighter Bhai Gurjeet Singh was also gang raped. Bibi Rachhpal Kaur was arrested for no reason but for having caught the eye of the police party and on September 5, 1989 was gang raped by the Kali Das Sharma and other police officers.

Indians Celebrated Independence Day; Sikhs Protested against Indian Atrocities

Toronto, Canada (August 14, 2011): Indians in Toronto celebrated their country’s independence day at Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto. On the other hand across the street from Yonge-Dundas Square in front of the Eaton Centre, a number of Sikhs and members of a civil rights group called Sikhs for Justice protested against Indian atrocities. The protest called the government of India “undemocratic” and “hypocratic.”

Demonstrators carried signs that wrote: “Stop Burning Churches & Killing Christians in India,” “Sikhs will never forget the attacks made by the Indian army on the Golden Temple and the genocide of the Sikhs in 1984,” and “United Nations should intervene to save lives.”

Prior to Digital Journal’s arrival to the scene, a scuffle between India’s governmental supporters and protestors occurred, according to Demotix News. Toronto police officers appeared and arrested three men who were involved in the fighting.

THE RAPE OF PUNJAB: Indian State’s Indignities on Sikh Women and Children HUMILIATED, TORTURED AND RAPED

A team appointed by the Punjab Women's Forum has documented evidence of police terrorism directed against women in some villages of districts of Ludhiana and Batala. These cases provide glaring evidence of the continuing terrorism all over Punjab. Our pen cannot adequately convey to you the pain of these women. Their suffering cannot be easily felt or shared. These cases are living testimony to the suffering of the Sikh women.

Background
Since 1984 when Punjab came under the heel of Punjab police and many armed gangs, untold numbers of innocents have languished in jails, countless number of young persons has been killed by police in fake encounters and many others continue to be brutalized in new detention centres.

Because of their political and religious views, some women too were caught in this web of violence but they were few. Instances include the repeated arrest of Bimal Kaur Khalsa (widow of Bhai Beant Singh); the arrest of the women singers (chorale) from Nabha, the arrest and continued detention in Jodhpur of many women arrested at the Golden Temple, Amritsar in June 1984 in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star; raids at the houses of the young people, the abusive interrogation of women; the arrest of the parents of the Panthic Committee member Wassan Singh Zaffar¬wal; the killing of a pregnant woman by the Border Security Police in district Gurdaspur, etc.

One heart rendering incident occurred as follows: In searching for young men, 50 to 60 police surrounded a barn and without warning started firing. It was just past 7:0 p.m., when bullets started smashing windows. The women inside were petrified. Taking shock of the situation, some older women hid the children in closets. In spite of widespread firing all around her, the oldest woman in the house decided to come out of the house. She said, “I have lived my life and not now see children massacred in front of my eyes!" She came out and from behind a pillar shouted: "Stop firing- you can come in and search the house. There is nothing to hide." The police officers, drunk in liquor, however kept on firing. After 10 to 15 minutes, an officer gave the command to cease firing. During the search, no male was found. The persons in the family were in the city that day; 13 women and children were found. The police were abusive. In the winter's cold, children and women including the mother of a two-week old baby were forced of the house. Not even blankets were allowed to them.

For the first time in December 1986, the armed units molested and raped women in village Brahampura, near Tarn Taran, in district Amritsar. When Avtar Singh Brahampura escaped the cordon of police, the police retaliated by venting their anger on innocent people, by beating them up and by raping and molesting five women. One of those young women spent the night without clothes, hiding behind some bushes. This angered the people so much that the government had to transfer the responsible battalion of Central Reserve Police Force out of that area but the people's demand of justice and trial of those responsible was never accepted.

From mid-1987, atrocities on women by the police and armed gangs have crossed all limits of civilized behaviour. Incidents of violence are not part of any particular search operation for wanted people, raids or interrogation but occur because the Central government has granted unlimited powers to armed units so that they can suppress the voice of revolution in Punjab. The police and the security have started these atrocities on women for they have been unable to bring to submission the young people of Punjab by resorting to unlawful arrests, torture in special prisons and even killings in so-called encounters. This is a direct challenge to the self-respect and dignity of the people of Punjab.

In order to collect facts, a three- member committee of the Punjab Nari Manch (Women's Forum) consisting of Dr. Jiwan Jot Kaur (Vice President of the IHRO); Miss Kamal Sandhu and Sri Ganpat, Advo¬cate toured some villages of Batala and Ludhiana districts.

Some incidents of Batala District
Batala subdivision lies in Gurdaspur district but has been made a special police district and the police have been granted special powers. This district has been subjected to maximum police bru¬tality. Law of the jungle prevails in this area, the domain of Senior Superintendent Govind Ram. In addition, because of their special powers, the persons of BSF and CRPF terrorise everybody. There is hardly a village among the 40 to 50 villages surrounding the Hargobindpur police precinct where the people have not been suppressed at the hands of the police. This investigation team found the following instances of police brutality of women.

Ajit Singh Shah and his family live on a farm on the outskirts of village Padha, Police post Hargobindpur. One night, some armed young persons came to the farm and at the point of a gun, demanded and received food and shelter for one night.

In the morning, leaving a person behind them took a sick associate into town. The police raided the house at dawn and arrested the one person who had been left behind. For the next one-and-a- half hours he was brutally interrogated and finally shot dead. The whole family was taken out of the house, kicked and beaten with gun butts.

Bibi Sukhwinder Kaur, wife of Balwant Singh (son of Ajit Singh Shah) told us: "We were beaten by the police and the BSF. I was hit with boots and stepped on. They used vulgar abusive language and demanded to know why we had provided food for the young rebels. We replied that we had to provide food for they had guns. The police accused us of sleeping with the rebels. What are we to do? Don't we have any self-respect or dignity? Can they say what they like? When the rebels come with guns what are we to do? Our licensed and registered weapons have already been confiscated by the Government. This happened in December 1988. Those days were very cold. The police forced the men out of the house and made them remove their clothes. We were then forced to sit with them. You know, I normally keep my head averted from my father-in-law. I was feeling very embarrassed but was helpless. After about 2 hours, the men were allowed to put clothes. Then they took my father-in-law, my husband, our guest and myself to the police station. I was kept there for 5 days. There was no woman cop either at the time of the arrest or at the station."

Daljit Kaur, daughter of Shiv Singh of village Nadha was told by the police that she was summoned by her aunt. When the family members refused to send this Sikh girl alone, the police dragged her away. The mother, Piar Kaur went along with her. Both were kept at the police station overnight. Members of this family are still in jail; the remaining women of the family live out on the farm passing their days in fear. She also told us that the police had looted their house.

The same day, another incident occurred in Padha village. On hearing gunfire, the village chief, Sohan Singh, a retired army person, asked the guard to summon members of the village council. He stated: "Only four rounds had been fired. We were in the village when the Senior Superintendent of Police came with his Force and started abusing us. He was angry that we had not gone to receive some dignitary who was visiting. He then started beating us and using profane language." Sohan Singh interceded, saying: "Please stop. You have beaten us enough. Do not abuse us further." This further infuriated the SSP. We were all humiliated by having to rub our noses on the ground a hundred times each. We were then taken to the Gurdwara and forced to deliver speeches abusive of the rebels. The village council members are old yet they were dragged to the police station and locked in a cell overnight with about 90 inmates. There was not enough room to sit and they had to stand all night. They were released 24 hours later.

Whether these events occurred in the house of Ajit Singh Shah or with the council members, they occurred in presence of, and under the direct orders of, Senior Superintendent of police Govind Ram.

Village Ballewal
The investigation team met Manjit Kaur (wife) and Prakash Kaur (mother) of Nirvar Singh Ballewal, a minister at a Gurdwara Shaheedan, Amritsar. Nirvar Singh was shot dead by police on the steps of the temple and removed in a jeep. Manjit Kaur ran after the police. They beat her with rifle butts. People rescued her. On 24 September 1987, it was learned that an extremist had been killed. Some people claimed the dead body of Nirvar Singh from the police and returned it to the family. His younger brother, Kulwant Singh had joined the rebels. The police raided his house a number of times looking for Kulwant. His mother Prakash Kaur had been taken to the police station for interrogation about 15 times.

During one of the raids, another younger brother, Dilbagh Singh, a minister at Baba Bakala Gurdwara, hid behind the house. The police shot Dilbagh in the back and killed him. The team saw bullet marks on a wall of the house. Manjit Kaur was badly beaten and dragged by the hair to a wheat field. After about an hour and a half of torture, she fainted and was thrown over the body of Dilbagh Singh with a taunt: "Now get your Khalistan." Her hands and feet were so badly swollen that she could not get out of bed for several days and she was bleeding from her scalp. This oc¬curred on May 2, 1988. Dharam Singh, the village head, lives near Nirvar Singh. He and his family are eyewitnesses to this account. When he arrived at the scene, he was beaten by the police and warned not to pursue this matter.

Pritam Singh is a schoolteacher at Ballewal. He and his spouse Shavinder Kaur have two grown-up sons. Even this family could not escape the clutches of the police. Pritam Singh's only fault was that he was the uncle of Dilbagh, Nirvar and Kulwant. Shavinder Kaur had been taken to the police station three times and was detained there for three nights once and two nights the other times. Their son, Harjit Singh, was in custody for ten days without being charged. He was beaten and was asked to give infor¬mation about Kulwant Singh. Now Kulwant has been arrested yet this family has not been let alone. Now the demand is to give information about Balvinder Singh, from a neighbouring village. The elderly mother and Shavinder Kaur told us “the police humiliate us during their raids. They use profanity that we are too embarrassed to report to you. We were arrested by male police and there were no female police even at the police station. We are so scared that we are frightened of any unusual sounds."

Swaran Kaur, the unmarried daughter of Assa Singh of village Ballewal, was kept in custody at the Dayanand Anglo Vedic School, Kadian by the BSF. She was arrested allegedly for harbouring extremists but was never charged. Assa Singh is a minister at the Gurdwara at Shahpur. He admitted that some months earlier at a sermon he had recommended that people should abstain from alcohol and should not have marriage parties of more than 10 people. The village council was summoned by the police and offered weapons to defend the village. When they expressed their inability to do so, the council members were arrested and kept in jail overnight. This occurred on January 16-17, 1989.

Village Sarchur
On January 10, Govind Ram accompanied by several police officers and BSF troops raided Sarchur. This village of 4,000 people is about 18 kilometres from Batala. The people of Sarchur and neighbouring villages Kotlik Bhangali Nasirke, Peherowal, etc., were assembled at the focal point of Sarchur. They were abused orally and accused of sheltering extremists and offering their daughters to them. The young persons were forced to lie prone on the ground and were beaten with sticks, belts and gun butt until their skins peeled. This was done for one hour. People were screaming but Govind Ram was not satisfied. He ordered people to repeat slogans after him berating a woman of the village, Surjit Kaur and her two daughters, Manjit Kaur (15 years) and Rajinder Kaur (10 years). Surjit Kaur is an Akali leader of the village and has been imprisoned for 5 months. A retired army officer, Charan Singh, could no longer tolerate this and refused to join in the slogans. He was seized, put in a truck, taken to the police station and kept at Fatehgarh Churian Police Station for three days. Govind Ram taunted that when Surjit Kaur comes out of the jail he would see to it that she is paraded without clothes through the village. Before returning, he threatened the women with dire consequences if they protested against his behaviour. Some families then sent their daughters to relatives far away. Earlier Surjit Kaur was badly beaten by the police. Both her daughters had been taken to the police station as well.

Mari Buchian
When the Sikh Students Federation took control of the Gurdwaras, the management of Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, Hargobindpur became a matter of dispute. Therefore, the village council requested the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to assume the management. The committee pleaded its inability to do so, and unanimously assigned this responsibility to Bhagwant Singh of Damdami Taksal. Everybody vouched for this man's integrity.

Ajit Singh Poola of that area is in league with the police. He maintains 40 to 50 armed guards. On January 18, 1989, at about 6:00 p.m., Ajit and his guards attacked Bhagwant's home. He claimed that he wanted to search the place. Bhagwant was not at home; his spouse was visiting her parents with the children. After the search, they started dragging his brother Harpal Singh, a Science teacher at Ghuman, who lives with them. Harpal Singh resisted and hung into the window grill. Then he was carrying his two-year-old son in his arms. They grabbed the child and threw him away. In this tussle, Harpal's hands were badly injured; signs of the injury were seen by the team. His spouse Maninderjit Kaur and mother Gurbachan Kaur pleaded with them but were also kicked and accused of harbouring extremists. The houses were looted. The team noted that the police had supported groups of raiders like these who commit acts of vandalism. This was confirmed by the lawyers at Batala. Once such people were caught in two scooters stealing incidents and the arms found on them, had been regis¬tered with the police. Some knowledgeable people who wish to remain anonymous and some lawyers claim that crimes in this area are being committed by police supported gangs.

In village Cheema, police post Hargobindpur, a young person named Jugraj Singh had joined the rebels several years earlier and is now known as Tufaan Singh. He is the only brother of five sis¬ters. Two or three times, police had brought his sisters to the police station and the village council had gotten them released. Now the police badly mistreated the sisters and their mother. Finally tiring of this, the family left the village. All this happened after Govind Ram took charge of the police in this area.

In Sundwa village (police post Hargobindpur), the spouse and daugh¬ter-in-law of Dalip Singh have been accused of sheltering extrem¬ists.

In village Tapiala, Hargobindpur police post, Gurmej Kaur, spouse of Bhagwan Singh was badly beaten. Their house was destroyed and set on fire. Their son was killed. They were accused of harbouring extremists.

Nirmal Kaur of village Sundwa, police post Hargobindpur, was accused of sheltering extremists.

Women and children were assembled at the focal point of Nassarpu¬ra and badly beaten.

Women were beaten at Kadian village. Some had their wrists bro¬ken. When the village council went to the police station to demonstrate, they were treated very badly.

The village council of Buttar went also to complain about police harassment and misuse of power. In turn, they were badly treated and beaten up. Many more cases from the neighbouring areas had come to the attention of the team but could not be pursued be¬cause of lack of time.

The team felt that women hesitated to tell them about their mistreatment because of social and familial considerations. The team also noted the mistreatment by the police of the village councillors. Whereas, according to law, every time that the police go into a village, it should consult with the council. Such consultation never occurred and when the council members went to the police station to protest against the mistreatment of women they were themselves beaten, abused and treated as traitors. For this reason, 21 councils submitted their resignations to the Deputy Commissioner of district Gurdaspur.

At Talwandi Lal Singh village, Gian Singh was arrested. His spouse Prakash Kaur was forced to lie on the ground and police officers stood on wooden planks on her thighs. She was screaming and another police officer stood on the chest of her ten-year-old son. Afterwards the police took her away and at 10:00 p.m., in the midwinter she was dropped off on a bridge leading to the village. This was stated by Gurdial Singh of that village, in the presence of Deputy Commissioner, Dalsair Singh Kalia and Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kulwant Singh and was reported in the Tribune on January 3, 1989.

The village head of Harbhajan told a gathering at Harcharanpur village that a child returning from school was taken away by the BSF and released only after 14 days of torture. Gurdev Singh, 44 years old, also of this village was killed in fake encounter by the police. This was reported by the Tribune on January 3, 1989.

A conference on people's power was organised at village Sunderpu¬ra in Batala police district that was addressed by the Punjab Governor S. S. Ray who asked for the people’s co-operation. The people related their stories of police excesses to the Governor. Ray appeared shocked and ordered an inquiry into the incidents at Mari Buchian. The Governor admitted that the cases of two women had been handled by police officers and not police officers. The truth is that there are many more incidents like this. From every village the women have been taken to police stations where there are no women constables.

Ambo, the mother of Jagdish, village Shankarpur; Prakash Kaur spouse of Gian Singh village Rakhia; Kulwant Kaur mother of Bal¬vinder Singh, village of Shankarpur related many incidents of police atrocities at the conference on people's power. After the incident at village Padha, a police force of 11 jeeps under the command of Govind Ram raided the house of Sital Singh, which is on the outskirts of village Mattewal and brutalised his wife and sister-in-law. Two years earlier also a police officer had pushed the spouse against a wall so that her skull was fractured.

In December 1988, about 200 police and BSF troops raided the house of the head of village Ghogey. His servant and spouse were badly beaten. When the head of the village Kotla went to protest police atrocities, his spouse was beaten.

An elderly woman of village Kastiwal told us that her son is so scared of the police that he has not returned home in 4 years. The police have arrested him several times and have looted the house.

Events of Ludhiana Districts
Arvinder Kaur Khalsa, unmarried daughter of Ranjit Singh of village Kila Raipur was arrested on July 9, 1987. She was re¬leased and re-arrested on September 7, 1987, under the National Security Act. The courts ordered her release but she was arrested for the third time when somebody shot a person named Jagvinder Singh. For there to four days, she was tortured at the police station Dehlon. On July 10, a case was registered against her of harbouring extremists. The case has now been dismissed by the special court.

Kuldip Kaur, widow of Darshan Singh, village Chomon, was arrested by the police and tortured for 15 days. She was paraded around naked for 5 days in Ahmedgarh Police Station. On October 21, 1988, she was charged with harbouring extremists and possessing stolen property. At present, her case is in the court of Magistrate Mr. Katari in which the widow has complained of being dishonoured by the police.

Nachhattar Kaur, spouse of Charan Singh, village Chak Sarawa Nath, was arrested from her home and detained at the police station for 3 to 4 days. She was subjected to abusive language and mistreat¬ed. Case no: 159 were registered against her on December 15, 1988, for his activities under the Anti Terrorist Act.

Gurmel Kaur, spouse of Ajit Singh and Jarnail Kaur, spouse of Harbans Singh, both of village Chhandran, police post Sahnewal, were arrested along with Nachhattar Kaur.

Jaswant Kaur spouse of Avtar Singh, village Kila Ajnaud police post Khanna had gone to attend a funeral ceremony. The police took her to the police station, tortured her for one day and booked her under the Anti Terrorist Act and for speaking against the Government. After she was bailed out, she told the people about atrocities against her and others. She was then re-arrested on February 14, 1989, and badly tortured on February 19 and remanded to prison on February 21.

Prof. Rajinderpal Singh Gill of the Punjab Agricultural Universi¬ty was killed by the police in a fake encounter. His spouse Rajind¬er Kaur Gill MA was arrested by the focal point police of Ludhiana on December 12, 1988, and tortured under the instructions of the inspector. A case for harbouring terrorist was registered against her on December 13, 1988.

Krishna spouse of Hardev Singh of village Ghabbadi is mother of five daughters and a son. A head constable has repeatedly threat¬ened to kill her son. Two of her daughters were arrested (one of BA student) and dishonoured at the Sadar police station by the head constable Darshan Singh and others. Case no: 370 were regis¬tered against them on December 15, 1988. Krishna’s spouse was also arrested but in now on bail.

Charanjit Singh Channi, son of Master Devraj Singh Talwandi Ex-MLA, has joined the rebels and the police have been looking for him. His spouse Harbans Kaur and sister-in-law Jasvir Kaur were arrested and warned that Harbans Kaur's two young children 2.5 and 4.5 years old would be tortured.

The unmarried sister of Channi was also taken to Raikot police station, insulted and warned that her family would be eliminated. However, some influential people were able to get her released. (Channi was killed in a fake encounter by the Ropar Police in June 1989)

Jaswant Kaur’s daughter Manjit Kaur, of Jagroan village, was arrested along with her children. The police took her to a secret hiding place and her parents had no idea where she was for many days. Manjit's mother has also been arrested several times.

This chronicle of police atrocities is hardly complete. It is impossible to survey all the villages of Punjab. People are afraid even to speak.

When an old person was asked why he does not report this behaviour of the police, he answered that lives have been lost and if he reports on them, they will kill us and blame the extremists for the deaths.

Now another phenomenon has come to our attention, that is, the work of armed gangs under the direction of the police. Many incidents of this nature have come to our attention but are beyond the scope of this report. The excesses of the police are commonplace; these practices can be traced back to the top brass of the police and Central government in Delhi. The judgement of who is an extremist is in the hands of the police and not the courts.

We feel the extent of repression has crossed all limits of civi¬lized behaviour in Punjab. Although we have covered only two areas, of which Batala area is the worst affected, it forms only the tip of the ice-berg of what is happening all over Punjab

India: Bring Charges for Newly Discovered Massacre of Sikhs

(New York) - The Indian government should ensure that those responsible for newly discovered massacres of Sikhs in 1984 are brought to justice, Human Rights Watch said today.

In January 2011, the burned and abandoned village of Hondh-Chillar, where 32 Sikhs were killed on November 2, 1984, was discovered in northern Haryana state. In March, the site of another forgotten killing of 17 people in nearby Pataudi, was discovered. Widespread anti-Sikh attacks in Haryana were part of broader revenge attacks for the assassination of then-prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, following the bloody attack ordered by Gandhi on Sikh separatists at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

"The discovery of more Sikh massacre victims after nearly three decades shows the reluctance of successive Indian governments, despite numerous commissions of inquiry, to get to the truth and prosecute those responsible for the anti-Sikh violence," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

An estimated 3,000 Sikhs were killed in 1984, in mob attacks with the complicity of senior members of Gandhi's then-ruling Congress party. Although there is evidence that at least some of the attacks were orchestrated by senior political figures, none have yet been convicted for the 1984 killings.

In 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged some of the failures. "I have no hesitation in apologizing not only to the Sikh community but to the whole nation, because what took place in 1984 is a negation of the concept of nationhood enshrined in our Constitution," he said in Parliament. "The past is behind us. We cannot change it, but we can write the future. We must have the will power to write a better future for all of us."

The Haryana state government established a judicial commission to look into the Hondh-Chillar killings. But successive government-appointed commissions have failed to ensure the proper prosecution of those responsible for instigating the riots.

"Announcing yet another judicial commission will be a step forward only if the Indian government finally uses the information provided and brings those responsible for mass atrocities to justice," Ganguly said. "Sikhs have been waiting a long time for mass murderers to be held accountable, and these new cases would be a good place to start."

To address widespread impunity for attacks on minorities, human rights organizations in India have been working with the government to draft and enact the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation) Bill. The bill provides for immediate intervention to prevent and control communal violence, speedy investigation and prosecution in such cases, and proper compensation and rehabilitation of victims.

Human Rights Watch urged the government to strengthen the bill by suspending the requirement for prior government permission to arrest and prosecute public servants; allowing prosecutions on the basis of command responsibility; and explicitly punishing "culpable inaction" by state authorities who fail to act to prevent communal violence.

The bill should specifically incorporate provisions to broaden the basis for prosecuting sexual violence against women during communal mob attacks. Since existing Indian law on rape focuses on questions of consent, it does not adequately address the coercive circumstances prevalent during communal violence, and offenses such as sexual mutilation are not adequately covered by the Indian Penal Code. The bill, while ensuring fair trial rights, should also include provisions for helping survivors of sexual offenses, including requiring adequate support services, physical safety and privacy protections.

"The Haryana massacre is a reminder that India needs a law that will provide maximum protection against orchestrated attacks on minorities," Ganguly said. "The government should listen to all suggestions that could strengthen the communal violence bill so that these outrages never happen again."

This is why We Want Khalistan- An End of Indian Atrocities

• To interrogate the Sikhs, a round log of wood is placed on their legs, and after putting heavy weight on the log it is rotated on the legs.
• Chilly powder is sprinkled in the eyes and sex organs of the Sikhs.
• Sikhs are hung upside down from the ceilings till they became unconscious.
• The body joints are battered.
• Electric shocks are administered to the genitals making most of the youth impotent
• Sikh women, during interrogation, are hurt in their sex organs. Filthy abuse is showered on them.
• Violence is inflicted on the parents in presence of their sons and daughters and vice-versa.
• Brothers are forced to beat sisters and vice versa. violence is inflicted on adult girls after stripping them naked and their sex organs are damaged. They are sexually assaulted, pregnancies are terminated of the expectant females.  
• Crotchets are pulled apart.
• The victims of inhuman violence are made to sit naked in winter, and under the sun in summer, kept sleepless for days in solitary cells.
• Sikhs are subjected to severe beatings and filthy abuse in the presence of their village folks.
• Dead bodies of Sikhs killed in fake encounters are not handed over to their parents to conceal marks of excessive violence
• The state manipulates tailored post mortem reports from the doctors, and burns the dead bodies of the Sikhs after falsely declaring them unclaimed.
• All sorts of excesses are made on the parents of underground Sikh youths.
• Indiscriminate atrocities are committed on the parents of the underground youth of the area where some militant action takes place.
• Atrocities are committed without caring for one's age, health, life or death. If some one luckily survives such brutal excesses, it is well and good But if one dies while under "interrogation", then such a dead body is taken out, pierced with some bullets, and a news item is sent that a dreaded terrorist has been shot dead in an encounter
• Houses of underground Sikh youths are demolished, their belongings are looted, crops destroyed, their tube well motors are taken away, and they are prevented from sowing crops.
• Even animals of the families of underground Sikh youth are subjected to police anger. After summoning the families to the police station, villagers are told not to take care of the animals of the families of the underground youth. Generally the animals starve to death.  
• False cases are registered against innocent Sikh youths, later they are let off taking fat bribes.
• Reporters giving true reports are arrested, an undeclared censorship is imposed on them to stop them from exposing police atrocities.
• Peaceful protests by the Human rights organizations are prohibited.
• Press is used to launch vicious and false propaganda against the Sikhs.
• Hardened criminals are inducted into Sikh movement to help in arresting the Sikh revolutionaries and sabotage the movement. Such criminals are inducted to tarnish the fair name of the Sikh revolutionaries are now called the "Black Cats" in the Punjab. Under SSP Izhar Alam, such criminal gangs were named the "Alam Sena." Besides, such police sponsored bands of criminals also operated under the name of Panthic Tiger Force and "Red Brigade." The director general of the police himself admitted about the "Black Cats" bands. In his interview to the India Today on Sept. 15, 188, KPS Gill had announced without an iota of shame that the security forces in Punjab cannot do anything without the help of secret bands (Black Cats).
• Thousands of innocent pilgrims, children, females, aged people, who got encircled in the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar were made to die through starvation and thirst. The whole of Punjab was converted into a vast jail by clamping curfew on the entire area. The army bulletin branded all Amritdhaaree's as terrorists.
• Indian army desecrated the Gurdwaras and committed such atrocities on the Sikhs that even the soul of Ahmed Shah Abdali might have felt ashamed of.
• The targets of army guns were none else but religious persons, devotees, pilgrims, ladies, old people, children or some militants whom the Indian government deemed as terrorists.  
• No neutral observer was allowed to take stock of the situation.
• The injured during the attack on the Golden Temple were subjected to extreme partiality. Whereas every assistance and facility was made available to the injured army personnel, there was no such provision for the wounded belonging to the other side.
• The number of prisoners taken was rather small. There is ample scope for doubt that the Indian army had thought it better to eliminate the thousands of people seized in the Golden Temple instead of taking them prisoners or having to provide them with medical assistance.
• No need was felt to perform religious rites for the dead pilgrims and devotees.
• Before consigning the dead bodies to flames, no effort was made to identify them. No relatives were informed.
• No dead bodies were handed over to the next of kin. In such a situation only the dead or those wishing to be dead could be present at the last rites.
• All dead bodies were placed in heaps and then con- signed to flames. IT was never insured that among the dead there could also be some Muslim devotees. To cremate is against the tenets of Islam.
• No need was felt to give a list of the dead to the Red Cross or any other International Agency
• Despite such atrocities, no commission was appointed to go into this dark episode. Even the British, the foreign rulers, had cared to appoint the Hunter commission to inquire into the Jallianwalla Massacre which was of a much less magnitude on the other hand. The Indian government, on the other hand, took all steps to hide the excesses of the army.

Atrocities On Sikh Children

There were other victims of Operation Bluestar little children, some only two years old, who got rounded up when the army swept through the Punjab countryside throwing over 18,000 suspected terrorists into jail. Since then, 39 children have been languishing in two Ludhiana jails.
There is four-year old Rinku whose father died during the army operation and whose mother has been missing since then. Like the rest of the ‘infant terrorists’, Rinku had to go through a gruelling interrogation. When asked where his mother was. he replied, “I do know”.Asked where his father was, he said, “Killed with a gun”. Why his stomach was so big; “Because I eat clay”. Then there is the earnest 12 year old Bablu who calls Bhindranwale his chacha. He insists that he be included among the terrorists and tried. There is Zaida Khatoon, a Bangladeshi woman who stopped to get food for her five children at the Golden Temple and ended in jail.
Their ordeal began in early June when they were picked up around the Temple and packed into camps in Amritsar and Jalandhar. Initially the army did not know what to do with the children. Some of the lucky ones were locked up with their parents, but they all faced the same charge: breach of peace under section 107 and arrest to prevent commission of cognisable offence under Section 107 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). They were finally sent to Ludhiana.
And then the nightmare began. Two central agencies, the Central Bureau of lnvestigation (CBI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) began their questioning. There were long, intimidating sessions. The children cried and begged to be sent home. But it went on for days. Their little finger prints were taken and IB sleuths set about verifying their bonafides. One interrogating officer admitted that not many officials were moved by the children’s cries.
The children continued to be locked up in a dingy old jail in the sprawling industrial city. Some were moved to a newer maximum security prison outside the city. Of the 39 children, 10 were with their parents, mostly their mothers. Another 15 were students of the Damdami Taksal, an institution founded by Guru Gobind Singh to train children in music and Gurbani, which was last headed by the Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. These students, all of them ardent Sikhs, had been camping in the Golden T cmple complex and some had learnt to use arms. Three of them have now been classified as ‘dangerous terrorists’.
Sadly enough, in their interrogations, the CBI and IB have shown little regard to any civil liberties or laws protecting young children. All the children have been booked for violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 or Section 107/151. It is a fact that they were picked up from the Golden Temple or at best are said to have surrendered. But these offences are bailable and in fact these sections are merely prohibitory, used by law enforcing agencies to stop processions and strikes. The authorities have paid no heed to the Children Act 1960 or the East Punjab Children Act, 1976.
The long, agonising inquisition apart, the children have been clubbed with known terrorists, criminals and anti-social elements. Under the law, children younger than 16 years old in the case of males and 18 in the case of females cannot be detained either at a police station or in a regular jail, and the lofty laws that protect and respect the child have all been violated. Children are supposed to be kept in special institutions or reform schools but the Punjab Government has hardly been bothered, as the central agencies continued with their gruelling, and often callous investigations. Confessed a CBI officer: “These are all fine ideas for newspapers and preachers. We had on our hands suspected terrorists and would be terrorists”.
Last fortnight, some relief seemed to be on the way at last. Kamladevi Chattopadhyay, the well-known social worker, petitioned the Supreme Court to help the children. A division bench consisting of Chinappa Reddy, A. P. Sen and E.S. Venkataramiah directed the Ludhiana district judge to remove the children from the jails and lodge them in a better place, at the cost of the state. The Punjab Government was also directed to trace their relatives and file particulars to the court. Ironically enough, the same day these orders were issued, a Ludhiana magistrate remanded four children arrested from the Temple on June 6 to judicial custody, till further orders. The youngest of these children, Jasbir Kaur, is only two years old, her sister Charanjit Kaur is four, and her brothers, Harinder and Balwinder, are six and twelve. These children are charged with disobeying the prohibitory order under Section 144 of the CrPC.
On August 1, eleven senior opposition leaders had demanded that the detained kids be either released or at least segregated. But it was only after the Supreme Court directive that the authorities began acting. Within five days the parents of six children were located from districts as far away as Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh, Hissar in Haryana and Nainital in Uttar Pradesh. They had gone to the Golden Temple to pray when they were caught in the army crossfire. District Magistrate K.R. Lakhanpal had had earlier sought the governor’s approval to release the children but had not met with any success. Said he: “We were alive to the human problem but somehow in this charged atmosphere quick release could not take place. The children had to be cleared first by the intelligence agencies”.
Most critically placed are those children whose parents face various charges. While District Judge Jai Singh Sekhon is for total segregation, the administration has not yet agreed. “They have to be with their parents only and since the parents cannot be kept out of jail, they remain where they are”,said Lakhanpal. Their fate, as well as the fate of those in Category C, the most dangerous, depends upon the Supreme Court, which takes up the case this fortnight. Mean while 39 little beings continue to pray for freedom every day.