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.
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.
