Part I: Suppression Of A Community

Punjab: 1982 - 84

For some years now, killing of innocent people has been going on in Punjab either with the quiet blessing, or with the active participation of the State. In the late seventy that name of an obscure village, Kala Sangha, in the Kapurthala District of Punjab, had got splashed all over the country as a place where ruthless mass killings had taken place and fields full of ripening corn had been set on fire to teach the villagers a lesson. For the 'security of the State' - the new catchword 'integrity of the country' had not then come not vogue - the Punjab Police, the B.S.F. and C.R.P. were extremely busy liquidating political activists as 'Naxalites'. The villagers showed us the pillar they had erected in memory of their local martyrs, and mentioned with gratitude how Shri Tarkunde had gone there in the days of their tribulation. Since then Punjab has not looked back, her path to the 21st century has been littered with bodies of young people. India 1984 has in many respects fulfilled the criteria of Orwell's 1984.

Rise Of Bhindranwale

Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's name first came in to prominence in connection with a Nirankari-Akali clash on 13th April 1978, in which 19 Akalis were murdered. Smt. Hardev of village Gutala (Distt. Kapurthala) told us about this clash. She and others had gone to see the Baisakhi celebrations on April 12th 1978. "At night a Kirtan organised by the Nirankaris was going on in Ajit Nagar, Bhindranwale informed the gathering that the Nirankaris were going to defame our religion. Immediately men, bare-headed and barefoot rushed to Ajit Nagar where the Nirankaris fired on them. It was on that night that my husband got killed." But Bhindranwale remained unharmed since he never went with the men to fight the Nirankaris. This was the first indication of Bhindranwale's role in inciting violence.

But Bhindrawale did not rise to political eminence till 1979. Dr Baldev Prakash, President, BJP, Punjab, talking about 'extremism' said, "The Congress (I) created Bhindranwale for us in 1979 but the coalition fell and in the process Bhindranwale became stronger. The policy of the Congress (I) is to create divisions among the Akalis."

Soon after the Lok Sabha Election in 1980 Bhindranwale's name began to figure in connection with the murder of Nirankari Baba Gurbachan Singh who had been killed in Delhi. The then Lieutenant Governor, in a secret letter to the Chief Minister, Punjab, had stated the "evidence has been collected to the effect that all the 20 persons against whom notices have been issued, and the three persons against whom warrants have been issued either belong to Sant Bhindranwale's Jatha, or are his close relatives or associates and are hiding under his protection. The CBI is in the process of issuing notice under section of 160 CrP.C. to Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale." Since he was not arrested, nor any action taken against him or his followers it was realized that he had powerful patronage and was above the law. This realization got confirmed when in September 1981, after the murder of Lala Jagat Narain there was a mock arrest and he was taken to the luxurious rest house in Ludhiana instead of to the prison, soon after in October he was 'released', and given a hero's welcome. His elevation was so rapid that he was tipped for the presidentship of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee, and he moved into the Golden Temple Complex with his extremists from the obscurity of the Gurdwara Gurdarshan Parkash in Mehta Chowk. Large scale killing, majority of whom were Hindus, and also Sikhs who did not fall in with his ideas continued unabated. Murders and processions continued unchecked topped by a hijack to Pakistan. It looks as if the Centre had given a carte blanch to extremists. It is curious how this entire episode has been omitted in the Government's White Paper. Commenting, Mainstream has pointed out: "there is nothing on record in the White Paper to show what stringent action the Government had taken to deal with the terrorists. In fact Bhindranwale was let off after a few days, under circumstances not very flattering for the authorities - a fact curiously deleted from the White Paper." (Mainstream, July 14, 1984. "Not So White". p2).

Shri Kirpal Singh, President, Khalsa Dewan, when interviewed said, referring to the extremists inside the Golden Temple, "the historical fact is that those armed people were with the Congress (I) in the last election on the same platform before the attack on the Golden Temple. These armed people had been opposing the Akali Dal and had put up candidates in opposition to the Akalis. Once they had already entered here who could have driven them out?" There is some truth in Shri Kirpal Singh's surmise for when asked by India Today (October 31, 1981) why the Police would not arrest the criminals hiding inside the Golden Temple, Darbara Singh, the then Chief Minister, replied lamely: "No comment on the sensitive question. Wisdom must prevail on them." As regards the position Bhindrawale enjoyed, Darbara Singh's reply is quite illuminating, explaining why he did not arrest him earlier, the Chief Minister said, "if we had arrested him earlier along with his group, there might have been more casualties. He was always surrounded by over 70-80 armed people, and all of them might have been killed." This exhibition of consideration (or is it sheer fear camouflaged as compassion) for Bhindranwale's extremists took shape further when they were allowed to continue their activities along with other extremist groups, such as the Babbar Khalsa and the Dal Khalsa. In November, 1983 Mrs. Gandhi herself had written to Bhindranwale a personal letter in her own hand appreciating his progressive views on social matters; Bhindrawale himself had shown this letter to Devinder Singh Duggal - Head of the Sikh Reference Library in the Golden Temple complex; it was kept in the library, when the reference library went up in flames this valuable document also was destroyed. In early 1984 Rajiv Gandhi had declared that Bhindrawale was a religious teacher - all this might explain why the Government of Punjab did not take any stern measure against Bhindrawale even if it wished to. The government's stand might have continued till today but for the Congress (I) fear of losing the votes of the majority community in the 1985 election and the funding of the local political parties. Perhaps also it suddenly dawned on the Government that the divide and rule policy has been taken too far.

Nature Of Terrorism: Then And Now

This brief sojourn in the past is necessary to explain the nature of terrorism then and now. Terrorism must be condemned, whether it was quietly blessed by a powerful hand, unleashed openly by a mighty State, or committed by individuals from their hideouts, but the difference in the nature of terrorists in Punjab then and now has to be noted. Then, it manifested itself through sudden murder and swift assault probably with the concurrence of the Government, the Police standing by. Today, it is the State itself which openly indulges not only in murder and assault, but also in inhuman torture, molestation of women, non-production of the accused before a Magistrate, destruction of crops, frequent raids, and harassment of the friends and relatives of the accused and false encounters leading to gruesome deaths. Then, there was a situation in which the agencies of law and order had ceased to function, edging as it were towards anarchy. The enormity of the threat that the followers of Bhindrawale posed to the "integrity of the country" - an expression we have been hearing without break - was completely lost sight of in the power game. Today, it is those very agencies of Law and Order, the Police, and since June 1984, the Army, who, with the sanction of the Black Laws have with newfound vigor let loose terror the like of which is difficult to match.

Who Is An Extremist?

One last point about terminology. During the last couple of years the word 'extremist' has been continually and arbitrarily used by the press and politicians to describe the hundreds of people in Punjab who have fallen foul of the Army and Police. In course of our stay in Punjab we met and heard of many of these so-called 'extremists- women like Satwant Kaur of Harchowal (P) whose husband had been killed and who only asked that she be spared constant humiliation at the hands of the police; men like Sohan Singh whose eyes were gouged out and his body reduced to pulp because he had said he was a religious Sikh; or Suba Singh who was killed simply because he had witnessed the police torture of another innocent man; or Narinder Singh who was picked up from his village for no reason at all, tortured and eventually narrowly escaped being killed in a fake encounter - thereafter being forced to go underground simply to survive. In what way can these people be called extremist? Is the demand that every citizen be spared torture, or that one be allowed to live in human dignity and follow one's religion, or that one be allowed to survive at all an extreme one? Who then are the real 'extremists' of Punjab? It is a question we hope our report will answer.

Discovering Punjab

Punjab is just there - a close neighbour, in a manner of speaking a cold wave over there makes us shiver here, a hot breeze blowing here scalds them over there. In spite of this proximity and constant media projection of dangerous terrorists throwing bombs, communal Akalis demanding Khalistan and total alienation of Hindus from Sikhs, we found that the fact we had been fed upon did not tell us about the Punjab of today. The story of Punjab after the Army Action, the passing of the Black Laws and the bestowal of extraordinary powers upon the police and the Army had not been told at all. Our visit was almost like lifting the corner of a veil to discover a face - an amazing face full of conflicting emotions, suffering yet defiant, anguished yet challenging, tortured yet proud.

'Occupied' Territory

One gets the feel of things in Amritsar itself, that busy city once bustling with pilgrims and Indian and foreign tourist had fallen strangely silent. The rubble still lies scattered around where the buildings used to be, the devastated labyrinths of the ancient bazars still tell the story of the grand success of the Indian Army in action against the defenceless citizens of Amritsar, thousand of shopkeepers, traders and businessmen have lost their property worth crores. And the loss of life? That irreparable loss? The evidence we collected would give some idea of that colossal and unjustifiable killing during the Army action. "Death certificates were not given and no list was published of those killed in the Operation. Dead bodies were thrown in the dirty refuse trucks and there was a mass cremation", said Professor Virk of Guru Nanak University.

The President of India had given awards to our brave army in appreciation of their dangerous mopping-up operation. Buildings once tall and imposing stand like so many haunted houses, eerie and empty with bombed out walls, mangled girders and gaping wounds - mute witnesses to wanton destruction. Though we had been told in Delhi that the Army had been withdrawn, that Army was there in Amritsar, even 8 months after the Operation Blue Star. The convoys still rumble along, Big Brother stands fully armed, using the bomb-blasted multi-storeyed buildings close to the Golden Temple as his watchtower, from that imposing height he keeps constant vigil on all who enter or leave the Temple Complex, himself almost invisible.

Before evening falls every passing vehicle is searched, passengers are hauled out, luggage is examined creating an artificial atmosphere of danger and impeding normal life. Sikhs, in particular are insulted - Professor Virk of Guru Nanak University was slapped during checking. Almost invariably fines are imposed for some technical lapse, as in our case, for not carrying a first aid kit; we received no proper receipt for the fine we paid. Any argument can land one in a Special Court, planting a pistol or revolver is quite common - even a 3" blade is enough to lead to arrest under the Arms Act According to Shri Surinder Singh Bhagowalia, Advocate and Vice President of A.F.D.R. (Punjab) in Gurdaspur, "there are about 5,000 cases pending under the Arms Act alone, these cases involving knives. The number of cases had been intentionally increased by creating false cases, in order to justify the existence of Special Courts and N.S.A. As the trial takes a very long time, generally the accused, though innocent, 'confess' the guilt in the hope of quick release. False cases are manufactured on the basis of reports received from the mysterious, 'Mukhbir Khas' - nobody knows who this Mukhbir Khas of the police is, a Sikh, a Hindu, or a Muslim."

Lawlessness Of The Police

How sheer living has become hazardous and insecure in Punjab today was explained to us by Sri Narinder Singh, Sarpanch of Kala Sangha: "If anybody objects about the illegal action of the Police, he is at once arrested and falsely implicated in an Arms Act case. Innocent persons are tortured. We cannot describe the extent of lawlessness of the police. For two months the wife and aunt of Tarsem Singh and the wife of Sandhu Seth were taken away by the police. They want money - as much as they can extort."

Armed police is everywhere in groups, moving about or sitting down at the entrance to the Golden Temple complex around Amritsar Guru Nanak University and the Khalsa College, in front of shops, in the lanes and by lanes of the city. One feels throttled, watched all the time. The presence of so many armed men not merely increases anger and tension, as the route and flag marches used to during the non-cooperation movement of the 1930's, but worse, it tends to excite communal feeling, proclaiming as it were that, but for the protective presence of the police, the Hindus and Sikhs would be at one another's throats.

Communalism

While not ruling out the simmering of communalism in wayward hearts of some highly educated and well-to-do Hindus (a few did seem to relish what had been done to the Sikhs during the riots of November 1984 and these are the ones who had disowned their mother-tongue - we never found any indication of this feeling among the majority of the Hindus or among the Sikhs whether educated or illiterate. Dr. Baldev Prakash, President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab State, told us in and interview that "general relationship between the Hindus and the Sikhs is good, though some gulf has been created between the two communities. In Punjab these communities will never come face to face to fight each other. Inquiry into the riots of November 1984 will help bridge the gulf. The guilty should be punished, the victims should be rehabilitated. Political level meetings should help to preserve amity and good relations. Even now there are joint committees of Hindus and Sikhs in mohallas and towns. The Hindu Suraskha Samiti can only increase the gulf between the two communities if they indulge in violence." Shri Kripal Singh, President, Khalsa Dewan, when asked about the relationship between the two communities said: "In Punjab there is no quarrel between Hindus and Sikhs, they have never fought. There is no doubt that murders do take in Punjab, and that both Hindus and Sikhs have been murdered, Sikh officials also have been killed, but such an incident is not a Hindu-Sikh question. But a feeling of resentment has now developed between the two communities - their hearts have separated. But also their relationship is so deep that it is not possible for them to fight one another face to face. If any one of them dies, members of both communities participate in the cremation, they join together in marriages. But due to the recent incidents a kind of hatred has been created between them. This could have been avoided if the Government had sincerely wanted to take steps against the extremists. They could have been isolated. The Punjab problem could have been solved, but Smt. Indira Gandhi did not allow that." Then he quoted an Urdu couplet to sum up the situation: [It is no longer possible to disentangle the knots. It was with great thought that the learned had tied and twisted them.]

Everywhere we went we heard that is was the Government (Sarkar) through its police who is instigating communal trouble. When we visited Kapurthala, we were told that three boys - Jogtar Singh, Tara Singh and Charan Singh had been arrested and tortured by the police because the shop of Sri Om Prakash was burnt in Kala Sangha market place. When interviewed, Sri Om Prakash (Hindu) very clearly told us - "I have not made any complaint against anyone, nor do I suspect the boys who have been arrested by the police." Rashpal Singh, President, Market Committee, added "there is no Hindu-Sikh tension here, it is a political problem." The Sarpanch said, "there is peace and harmony here but the government has posted police here to disturb the peace. The shopkeeper whose shop was burnt down has not taken anybody's name but the police has implicated three Sikh boys."

The Role Of Some Congressmen (I)

Mr. Shyam Lal, Chairman, Municipal Corporation, Fatehgarh Churian, Dist. Amritsar, when asked about the communal situation was of the firm opinion that "the relations between Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians are very cordial and there has not been any trouble here, there has been absolutely no migrations from our village to places outside Punjab." But he added how "the police and the Army are under pressure of the ruling Congress, wrong information is given to them and because of that injustice is being done to the Sikhs" and he mentioned the cases of a timber merchant Kulwant Singh Arrewalla and a farmer Sarabjit Singh of village Fatehpur who were arrested and tortured by the army and the police because "The Congress (I) people falsely implicated them in the Khalistan Flag unfurling case." This kind of thing creates trouble between the two communities. To get to the root of the matter we interviewed Kulwant Aingh Arrewala (50), timber merchant and Saw Mill owner of Fatehagarh Churian and we quote him - "On the night of August 15. Army rounded up a number of people and I was also arrested under the direction of Santokh Singh Randhawa, Punjab Congress (I) President, I was told to pay obeisance to Shri Randhawa, when I refused they blindfolded me, took me to various Interrogation Centers but not finding anything against me released me after 5 days. Reaching late at night I found a message from the local police station asking me to report there, next morning I went to the police station. The SSP asked me to sit down and then informed that I was going to be arrested, when I asked what were the charges against me, he said, "you should seek forgiveness of Sri Randhawa" for reasons unknown. I refused.

Unfurling Of Khalistan Flag

"So a false charge was framed against me that I had unfurled Khalistan flag. The Colonel also had questioned me about this and I had told him is was the work of Santokh Singh Randhawa and none other. I have been release on bail of 2 lakhs after two months." After this to expect that Hindus and Sikhs would live in amity is perhaps expecting too much. We gathered from several sources that there are some Congress (I) men who are against the Hindu-Sikh unity and there is suspicion that they have their hands behind many of the murders, though it is always a Sikh who is arrested as an extremist. We met the farmer Sarabjit Singh of Village Fatehgarh and questioned him about the Khalistan flag unfurling story. He said, "I was in my farm in a village 5-6 miles away when I heard of the Khalistan flag incident. The next day on August 16, I was arrested and kept for 4 days in Police lockup. There I was tortured in the same way as others. About 40 people had been arrested, later I was in jail for 5 months. Santokh Singh Randhawa has two or three men who work for him for money and inform the police and then the SSP takes action. Actually those very men had hoisted the flag." Later we gathered further information talking to a big group of local people, recorded discussions is being quoted: "This is totally government sponsored. Many who have confessed being a party to these incidents have talked of an important man in Congress (I) to be the mastermind. Charanjit, a poor man, has confessed that he had hoisted the Khalistan flag and also threw a grenade inside a temple - he did these things for money; his is now in Gurdaspur jail and has been promised a bail and acquittal if only he gave a clean chit to his master. The Congress (I) does not want peace but wants that the Hindu-Sikh problem stays on in order to gain political advantage. Here there are no extremist, but is played up to create a permanent rift between the two communities." If this was in Fatehagarh Churian, the story of the involvement of Congress (I) in giving protection to the real culprits and forcing the police to arrest wrong men - always Sikhs - was no different elsewhere. Sri Karan Singh, President, City College, Batala told us that a student of Class XII Jagdish Singh about 20 was murdered near a CRP and Military camp. "We are telling you this because the CRP and Military did not make any investigation to find out the culprits - only because Jagdish Singh was a Sikh boy. If it had been a Hindu boy they would have made vigorous investigations and arrested hundreds of people, instead the police arrested one of his friends and falsely to protect the culprit implicated him in the case the reason being that the Congress (I) wanted to protect the culprit and get the police to arrest a friend of Jagdish Singh. All these things are done at the instance of the government so that more and more Sikh youths can be arrested and tortured."

1. How the Army is being politicised, as the police already has been; and

2. Some Congress (I) men have people in their pay to execute acts of terrorism; and

3. Basically Hindus and Sikhs wish to live together in peace, but some powerful men in the ruling party are against this unity.

Even about the attempted murder of R. L. Bhatia - the then President of Punjab Congress - I there was unanimity that it was not the doing of a Sikh, "it could never have been, for" said Bhagowailis, "Bhatia had very good relations with the Akalis and was very popular among the Sikhs in Punjab. The Sikhs had no reason to shoot him. The shooting seems to be the result of internal quarrel within the Congress-I." Sri Bhatia was one prominent Congress-I man who genuinely wanted the Sikhs and the Hindus to live together in Punjab as members of one family, but this was not exactly the aim of several of his power-hungry colleagues in the Party office. Dr Rajinder Kaur, President Istri Akali Dal who we asked about this incident-was a deeply worried woman, a personal friend of Shri Bhatia, she was visiting him everyday in the hospital where he was then lying gravely ill. She completely ruled out the hand of any Sikh-"he was loved by all" she told us. But what they all had feared has come to pass-"you'll see some Sikhs would be implicated" - because the police dare not touch the real culprit.

Hindu - Sikh Harmony In The Villages

From all the evidence we could collect, it did not appear as if there can ever be a Bhiwandi or a Moradabad in Punjab. There might have been, the situation could have been really ugly when, after the appalling incidents in Delhi and elsewhere, haunted by the fear of their recurrence thousands of Sikhs had fled to Punjab. Even the official figure was 25,000 which is hard to believe, considering in Ludhiana's city Gurudwara alone there were 4000 families in May and the SGPC had registered more than 1800 families and almost every Gurudwara had given shelter to these people - many hundreds of them widows and orphans. Several had gone to their relatives in the villages where communal violence could easily have erupted, the Hindus being in the minority in the rural areas. That nothing has happened is not because of any extra precaution taken by the Government or solace offered to the bereaved, nor because of the presence of the Army. Repression of the Army has crossed all limits beyond which it is difficult to imagine even the Army could go to quell communal violence if it had at all occurred. Could the presence of the Army control communal violence in Gujarat? We felt it was the innate wisdom of the villagers which kept passions under control, while visiting the Sarpanch of the Village Sandhu Chatha in Kapurthala district, we met one such wise man, his 80-year old uncle had heard what he had done to calm down his neighbours when they began to get excited after hearing the people who had come there for shelter. Calling them together with great gentleness he explained to them that by killing people who had not harmed them they would not get those back they have lost making others as miserable as they were themselves would not lesson their own pain. Guru will comfort them and time heal the wound. There never was any trouble in that village, nor in any other village, we visited. Though we were all Hindu and most of the villagers were Sikhs, we were treated as one of them and their trust in us was deeply moving. How genuine this feeling of friendship is between the two communities was made clear to us by a small peasant owning only three acres of land. His story is worth narrating. Gurmeet Singh alias Kahan Singh (35) of village Khanna Chamara was surrounded by the military near Dharmakot Randhawa village at about 8 a.m. when he was coming to Dera Baba Nanak on his cycle, "I had just received Rs. 700 as price of my corn from Babu Shah Commission agent, I had a Kirpan which I had bought at Rs. 300 now its value will not be less than Rs. 1000, a Barccha (spear) at Rs. 100 and a small Kirpan at Rs. 50 of which were my religious symbols but these were all snatched away by the military. I was hit with rifle butts. Suddenly it appears there was a lot of noise - some Gujjars who always come to Punjab with their cattle - buffaloes, sheep, horses, donkeys etc. during the winter were returning to Kangra as it was getting hot. The attention of the military was diverted and they got busy with these hundreds of Gujjars. The people in the market who were mainly Hindus signed to me to run away. I took my cycle and ran towards the market. The Hindus shouted "Run away, run away Baba - otherwise the military will shoot you." They helped me in running through the market - they did not inform the military. They saved my life." This happened on 4-6-1984.

That in the country-side the two communities lived in perfect harmony, was clear again when Gurnam Kaur (50), wife of the agriculturist Swaran Singh of Harchowal village mentioned just casually how "all Hindus and Sikhs of the village used to go to the police station for the release of my daughter-in-law, but nobody would listen to them. There is also fear if somebody goes to her help, he also would be apprehended." This statement makes it clear that the Hindus of her village not only used to go to the police station but were prepared to take risks and all on their own, as they had nothing to expect from Swaran Singh, a very small peasant who had gone mad, one whose son Avtar Singh was missing while the police was after him. This was an important interview for us, not only did it tell us about the communal situation in the village, but about the terrible molestation of women going on unchecked. "Since September Avtar Singh (26) had not come home," said Gurnam Kaur adding stoically, "the papers said SSP Pandey had caught him-must have killed him for he has not come home, and I do not know where he has gone. The police came and took his wife and kept her in Srihargovindpur Police Station for 3 months without any charge, and without producing her before any Magistrate. Whenever they want, they take her to the Police Station and there is no woman police there, so they molest her, insult her, humiliate her as they like. "Tell me,' Gurnam Kaur asked us, "If any man sees this kind of behaviour with his wife or sister how would he react?" This question asked by a village women is asked by all, and if a man 'reacts' as the old woman implied and as all right thinking persons think he should, he is called a 'terrorist.'

Who Are The Real Terrorists?

The definition of the word 'terrorist' is left purposely vague and broad, so that any kind of protest can land one in the authorities net and then in the Special Court. The Police can present a challan in a period up to one year - thus, as an under trial one remains without the possibility of bail.

The Special Courts are bursting at their seams; a Police Officer, a Hindu, admitted that 90 per cent cases are false and the kinds who were facing the charge of burning down railway stations or bombing bridges could never have done such things. The real criminals have escaped. In Amritsar we got a chance to talk to a 'dangerous terrorist' who had been accused of snatching a revolver from a policeman and had been brought to the Special Court that morning. Prakash Singh (22) of village Verka told us a story we did not believe till we heard the same story from Mr. Dalbir Singh, an Advocate and a member of the Legal Aid Committee, Amritsar. In Jethana Army Camp where Prakash Singh and his friend had been taken under the charge of revolver snatching, they were sent for by the Army Commander of the Camp and asked to confess and also demonstrating how he was running away with the revolver, the Commander shot him down. Prakash was then told to see if his friend was still alive and as he was moving towards the body he was shot at but the bullet missed him, the Commander had another try but missed again. Some superstition which forbade him to try a third time saved Prakash Singh. On this no comment is necessary - it merely shows how Indian Army personnel which had made a name for their humane behaviour during the Bangladesh war have been behaving while dealing with their own people in their own country. We had been shaken by this story not realising at that time that this was only the first of many such atrocities committed by the Army in Punjab villages we were to hear of during our stay.

On terrorists and terrorism a group of villagers from Gurdaspur's Jaffarwal village had a lot to say, and since they have been the sufferers we must quote them in full (as far as possible in their own words translated from Punjabi into English): "Police is terrorising the people. All those who are to protect us, like B.S.F., Punjab Police, C.R.P., military and Central Government forces are the real terrorist and extremists, because terrorist are those who have crossed all limits of law and humanity. Now the government and its agencies have crossed all those limits. It is not Pakistan which is training terrorist, it is these agencies of the government who are doing that.

Communalism Of Our Protection Forces In A 'Secular' State

"They are terrorising the Amritdharis, because they want to finish Sikhism, then they come to us who are not Amritdharis. We are at the receiving end, we are being forced to leave our homes. Wasan Singh's house is lying empty, his lands are lying untilled. The police do not allow the land to be cultivated. There are thousands of cases like this." Then we heard the story of Wasan Singh - but it was really about the midnight arrest without warrant two days earlier, of his 70-year old mother that they had come to tell us: "We have been to all the Police Stations, but cannot find her. "Wasan Singh, a young man of 26 was an employee at the Dhariwal Mills, "a soft-spoken, religious man", but he was "an Amritdhari Sikh and that was his crime. So he was declared a terrorist and he is absconding." When the police came to arrest him, not finding him they arrested his younger brother. The entire family, including Wasan Singh's father, his wife and children and brother are since absconding: only Bibi Surjit Kaur, his mother was left at home and now she too has been taken away.

The story is the same in village after village. Arrest an Amritdhari, raid the house again and again, as Harbans Ghuman's in Ghuman Kalan village was, 45 times. His hands tied up and his back with his turban, his eyes bandaged so hard that they are often damaged, his faith spoken of in the most abusive language, he is thrown in the van and pushed inside the interrogation centre- a torture chamber to be truthful. Nine different methods of torture, two of which have been described in detail in the report of Sri T. S. Cheema, District and Sessions Judge, Patiala (see Annexure No. 5) are used to break his body and crush his spirit. To find out what? Where is Bhindranwale? Who are your friends and relatives? How many Hindus have you killed? Where have you kept the weapons? The names of his friends and relatives are obtained and similar treatment meted out to them. Meanwhile, refuse the man water to drink till he is almost dead, give him no more than two minutes to go to lavatory, and if he is little late beat him mercilessly. Avtar Singh of Jaffarwal village who was sleeping by his oxen in September 1984 was dragged away by the military to their camp and mercilessly beaten and tortured, was not given any water to drink, "They would bring a glass of water to our mouths and then withdraw it, we would fall down unconscious. They would allow us to go to the lavatory only once a day at 12:30".

Surjit Singh Bhatia, 47 - a teacher in a Government Middle School in Dailo Raya a villge Nangal was arrested suddenly on June 8th 1984 from his house when he was trying to arrange for some Ata for his friends - Sikhs and Hindus - who were all officials of the telephone exchange and staying with him during the curfew. His house was raided, he was taken to the G.T. Road and every method of torture was used on him because he was an Amritdhari. On the verge of death he was given a sip of water by one sepoy, "through the cloud of subconscious I heard the sepoy say that I was dying to which the DSP said that if I did not show any sign of life afer 5 minutes, I should be shot down and the body removed. When I realised what they would do to me I forced myself to remain awake and show them that I was still alive." If some, unable to bear the torture die, no post-mortem is called for, since there is no record of their arrest, even the bodies are not handed over and if in some cases they are, the relative taking over the body has to certify under the threat of being shot down that the man had committed suicide. Thus several able bodied, innocent men who were only there yesterday ploughing their small pieces of land peacefully are not there today and have disappeared leaving no trace behind - but only the pain and anguish in the hearts of the women who loved them. Gurmit Kaur (32), widow of Karnail Singh of Village Kila Lal Singh, Gurdaspur Dist. owns a 2-1/2 acres plot of agricultural land, told us a story of incredible brutality. "The police took away my husband on 11.11.84 giving no reason for arrest, not saying where he was being taken. On 13.11.84 Ludhiana Police came to tell me that my husband was very ill and I should go with them. Reaching there I found he was dead, both his arms were broken, there were many injuries on the testicles, the legs had been stretched to such an extent that the body had got torn and his intestines had come out. The body had fallen apart so it could not be brought home for cremation. There was no FIR, he was not presented before any Court, he was arrested without warrant and there was no witness like the Sarpanch when he had been taken away." Hiding her tears she said, "it would have been better if he was shot rather than killed like this through torture. "There is nobody to till the land, now that Karnail Singh is dead and she is saddled with an old and sick 80-year old brother-in-law and her own two small children; in may families it is not merely the sorrow of death but the fear of starvation which is haunting them.

Obsession With Amritdharis

The Army's obsession with Amritdharis becomes clear for the appeal the Army Gazette had released through Army Headquarters: it was published in Baat Cheet Special No. 153. The Appeal said. "Any knowledge of the Amritdharis who are dangerous people and pledged to commit murders, arson and act of terrorism should immediately be brought to the notice of the authorities. The people might appear harmless from outside but they are basically committed to terrorism. In the interest of all of us their identity and whereabouts must always be disclosed."

There is no dearth of men who are ready to identify Amrtidharis and disclose their whereabouts. One such Amritdhari's presence in village Sadulal, Amritsar District was reported to the Army. Sohan Singh (32) of Longowal village of Gurdaspur - a small agriculturist had gone with his wife and small daughter to look after the land of his father-in-law who had fallen sick. "Some army men suddenly came to my father's house when we were sitting down to eat and asked my husband if he was an Amritdhari. He said he was a religious Sikh. The army men were abusive, they pulled his beard, opened out his turban and said Sikhs are badmashes, my husband said, "I am a small peasant, it does not matter if people think bad of me." At that those men threw him on the ground and began to beat him badly, then they dragged him out of house and took him in their jeep." The statement was made by his wife. Bhajan Pratap Singh of village Tarseka, Amritsar District, who was in the lock-up next to the rooms where Sohan Singh had been put told us what had happened there, "I could hear him cry and ask for water, I think an employee perhaps was going to give him some water when I heard someone abusing him. "Is he your Sala?" Others who were in that camp used to hear him shriek and one day everything was quiet. We came to know that Sohan Singh's eyes had been gouged out and every joint of his body had been broken with steel rods. Later when his body was handed over to his widow and his elder brother Baldev Singh, they found the eyes were not there, the body was just pulp without joints and it had become unusually long, the Army had handed it over to the S.H.O. Jhandiala, District Amritsar, who had entered the case as one of suicide, and before giving the body to them, the police made the widow sign a statement that it was a case of suicide. There was no post-mortem report to prove that the man had died of torture. Sohan Singh's body was brought to his village Longowal and cremated there. One began to wonder if India is really a secular State where freedom of worship is allowed to every citizen. Amritdharis are like the Hindus who have taken "Deeksha" from their Gurus, those who have been initiated, so to speak and observe certain rules in their private life and are more religious, more rigid in their observance of rituals than their co-religionist, but that does not make them 'dangerous' and in any case Army's duty does no involve 'witch-hunting'.

Our Disciplined Army

In a democracy Army is not meant to sort out political acrimonies, to deal with law and order situation and commit atrocities on defenceless citizens arbitrarily. Its undivided attention should have been focused on the defence of the border. This is not being done, at least not in Dera Baba Nanak, people come and go, smuggling goes on in this important border. By harassing families to produce missing men, by molesting, by daily arresting men, even children, from nearby villages, nothing positive can be achieved; this can only make the people hate the Army and create new terrorists. Shri Kripal Singh's sorrowful words about the Army are worth quoting: "When General Dyer killed people in Jallianwalla Bagh, the bodies had been given back to their relatives but strangely our own Army killed our own people and did not return the bodies to their relatives. Thereafter, a reign of terror was let loose in this area. Any Sikh youth who wore a yellow or blue turban or had a kirpan was captured, humiliated and shot. I had given a memorandum to Major General Jamwal, who was the Army Commander at that time here. Those Army men are the same who had been served by the Punjabis - specially by the village people - in the battle fields, with lassi and paranthas which they carried on their heads."

We heard a frightening story from Gurmeet Singh of Khanna Chamara village how Army Officers interfered in people's private lives: "A Christian girl was getting married and there was a party in the village. Being falsely informed that there were terrorist, the army came in the village in three vans, surrounded the village and a drunken Major entered the house of the bride with a few of his men, he ordered all male guests to come out with hands up and the women guests to dance. The ladies were made to dance all night under threat, the men were blind-folded, vilely abused and taken to the military camp and kept there for two nights, then were handed over to the police. At the police station we were insulted, humiliated, beaten, without any charge sheet, it was only after the Panchayat come with the villagers to the police station and pleaded with the authorities about our innocence that we were released." We were told a similar story of interference by the police in Kalasangha - there was a marriage in the village. The police took away the radio operator who was installing the radio. He was released only after the policeman were invited to the wedding feast.

Scorched Earth Policy

Sixty-year-old Boota Singh of village Pagthana Baardwala said, "my son Ajit Singh (20) is untraceable since Army action in June; my house has been raided 10 times during the last eight and half months and my three other sons and myself have been arrested 5 times, taken to a CIA staff, kept there, tortured for one month, then released again for a couple of weeks, then again taken, again interrogated, again tortured then released again for a few days. Time and again it is because of the intervention of the Panchayat we are released; I was released only yesterday (May 5, we were there on May 6, 1985). My son Pritam Singh is still in custody. We are much harassed. We are never produced before a magistrate, but continuously ordered to produce my missing son Ajit Singh.

Types Of Harassment

We have no desire to live. About 100 Army men suddenly raid our house in the night, pounce upon our sleeping sisters and ladies and small children. We are not even allowed to harvest. Death is better than this life." It was a cry of anguish. People are not allowed to harvest, not allowed to cultivate in some areas, the labour is driven away. We heard this in almost all the villages in Dera Baba Nanak. Young Rajawant Kaur of Shahpur Guraiya was alone in her house with two of her small nephews- her brother had gone to Golden Temple and had not returned since June Army action. So her old sick father. "who cannot even sit up" had been taken away at least ten times since December; on May 4 at night my sister-in-law with her one year old baby has been taken away. I do not know where. For the last six months our crop is not allowed to be harvested. The labourers were threatened and they have all left, there is no one to look after the land or the cattle". Rajwant with exemplary self-control kept her tears back. Only there were so many Rajwant Kaurs. The threat is 'the land with crops will be set on fire', the house will be destroyed', even relatives who had come to help have been arrested. There was Surinder Kaur (25), wife of a rickshaw puller who had come home to harvest his wheat but was arrested. There was Mata Dato (70) whose son has not returned since June 84 and the other son is taken to the Police station every other day and beaten up. The demand is he must produce his brother. There was Darshan Kaur (26) who herself was arrested along with her husband Balbinder Singh, by paying Rs. 1,000 to the police she had got herself released but not her husband. "He has been so badly tortured that he would be useless for any hard work," she said. Now he is in Gurdaspur Jail under a fake charge of having thrown a grenade."

The Sarpanch of Village Haruwal (PS Dera Baba Nanak) Sardar Sukhdev Singh, along with several other Sarpanches, from different villages, had come the day we were in Dera Baba Nanak to get 20 persons released from the Police Station "From my village 65-year-old Jagir Singh and 50-year-old Jagjit Singh have been in unlawful police custody for the last 4 days. They do not give food to the arrested persons-we have to supply them food."

Government Actively Communal

Soon after the Operation Blue Star the Government inducted a number of CRPF and BSF officers from outside Punjab to deal with terrorists. The Sarpanch of Village Haruwal bitterly complained that "the D.I.G., S.P., A.S.P., even the S.H.O. are all Hindus and everyday they are arresting only Sikhs. Recently Inspector Kirpal Singh of B.S.F. came on leave to my village and he was arrested. When I went to the police station for his release, the S.H.O. threatened to arrest me. It was only after badly insulting Kirpal Singh that they released him. I feel so harassed, and have not desire to live. Daily I have to go to the Police Station for the release of innocent persons from 7 a.m. in the morning till late at night; death is better than this sort of situations and constant harassment." What this Sarpanch said in great anguish can be said for all: "The military has proved to the Sikhs that it is not there for their protection, but to kill them. In order to save themselves from harassment some run away to Pakistan and they are declared 'terrorist' and 'extremist'. The families of those who have run away, or have died, are harassed. They are more like an Army of occupation, than our own men who once used to live in our own villages."

Army Rule In Punjab

For months after the Operation Blue Star it was undeclared Army rule in Punjab. That Civil Authorities had ceased to function will be clear from the following instant. An accused with eyes tightly bandaged was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Shri Cheema. The court ordered the bandage to be removed. His orders were not obeyed, after the case the Court ordered that the accused should be sent to jail and not returned to Army custody, at once a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Army entered and clearly told the Magistrate in Hindi which all heard "Goli khayega or remand dega" - in the retiring room the order of the court sending the accused to jail was torn up and replaced by a remand order.

Shri Cheema complained to the Sessions Judge and the District Magistrate who brought the matter to the notice of the Brigadier. The Brigadier expressed regret but it remained there.

Corruption was rampant. "They would stop trucks on the roads, and beat up the drivers and let them move on only after they had paid handsomely," said Shri Balbir Singh of Chonoy village (P.S. Sri Hargovindpur, Distt. Gurdaspur), a retired Army Captain. He too had been arrested, "They told me I was an extremist." Even after his release he was under house arrest; if you leave your home, you'll be shot." For 8 months, he could not go to his land. Iqbal Singh, an agriculturist of village Bhawri (P.S. Hargovindpur) said, "we have proof that some military officer used to visit rich Sikh landlords and were entertained lavishly by them. This happened in my own village. The rich landlords, would get the poor people, who might have stood up against them, arrested by the Army, and after they had been beaten up and tortured, they would get released. Many poor people have been harassed this way to keep them under control in future. The landlords did this by bribing the military officers."

In Patiala, we heard how the Amy men had looted private homes after the Dukh Nivaran Gurdwara had been attacked and hundreds of people killed - many of them women, some blind beggars and several children. A report, giving details of the loss of property had been published in the Indian Express on June 13, 1984. On the night of June 14th, the Army Commander come back to the Gurudwara, sent for its Manager, Shri A. S. Gill and told him, "You are maligning my Army men, you know you're only free because of my kindness." The manager was made to sign a typed statement saying he had never sent any statement accusing the Army of looting. A.S. Gill told this to us himself, at Patiala. The manager was wise not to have argued with the Commander. He could easily have been shot down and no enquiry would have been held. The government Veterinary Doctor Satinder Pal Singh was shot down in broad daylight near the bus stand in Gurdaspur by two Army men, his brother a Government high school teacher Shri Kripal Singh sent telegrams to everyone from the President and Prime Minester to the Deputy Commissioner about the atrocity. First Major Grari and Lt. General Gouri Shankar denied military involvement but when supplied proofs they sent a message to the Distt. Magistrate admitting their involvement. "Till today" Shri Kirpal Singh said, "no action has been taken, no enquiry has been made by the civil administration why a government officer was shot down."

Role Of The Panchayats

Village Panchayats are much more active than important officers in the government. The magnificent way they go to the Police Station collecting with them as many villagers as they can, the moment they heard a man had been arrested from the village, had saved many men from being shot down and shown as 'encounter deaths'. They make it known to the Police that they were witnesses to the arrest of the man from his own house and not from outside the village where he could have confronted the police with his revolver. We heard people expressing their deep gratitude to their courageous Sarpanchas and the members of the Panchayat; the entire village rising as one man and marching to the police station has become a common sight these days. Fifty-year-old Joginder Singh, a much harrassed father of young Gurcharan Singh told us how "Panchayats of four villages went to the police and got my son released on 30.1.85, my son who was working as a mechanic in Rourkela factory in Orissa in the last two years and had come home on leave in December 1984 was suddenly arrested without a warrant and without a charge sheet on 10.1.85. We sent him back to Rourkela on 16.1.85 three days after his release but the police were after us, so much so that we had to leave our home to save ourselves from harassment. The police wanted my son back, I told them that I would give them proof that he had been working in Orissa and returned to his job. This did not satisfy them so ultimately I myself went to Orissa and fetched my son on 20.3.85. All the Panchayat members of my village and a large number of villagers took my son to the police station and the police kept him there in spite of the precaution that the Panchayat had taken the police showed that my son was an extremist and he was carrying a revolver and was captured in an 'encounter' on 28.3.85. He is still in Gurdaspur jail.

Police Corruption And Fake 'Encounters'

'Encounters are common and are concocted for various reasons, one being extortion of money.

Deedar Singh (40) son of Subedar Acchar Singh, brother of ex Army Havaldar Harjap Singh (56) comes from a family which gave its sons to the Army since before India became independent, but without warrant or any charge sheet he was dragged into the police jeep from his tube well in the evening of 27.3.85. Early next morning Harjap Singh with the Sarpanch and 50 men from his village went to CIA Staff, Batala and found Deedar Singh badly tortured, they went again on the 29th to see him and gave him tea and something to eat. On the 30th morning they were surprised to read in the local newspaper that Deedar Singh and Jitendra Singh Ghuman were caught in an encounter at Bhuller Bridge near Batala with rifles and pistols on March 29. Deedar Singh was arrested on March 27 from his home and was inside the jail throughout but the encounter was shown on March 29! Harjap Singh rushed to the police station - "I paid Rs. 5000 to SSP Pandey and Rs. 2000 to S.I. Anant Ram to stop him killing my brother. He is alive and is still in jail."

Shri Bhogowalia told us how pre-emptive efforts saved another young man's life. Gurmail Singh of Dhilwan was arrested from him home at midnight by S.I. Joginder Singh of Kadian P.S. Since it was going to be a fake encounter, the Sarpanch with 500 villagers gheraoed the police station and Balwant Singh Udowalia an IAS Officer posted in Assam sent telegrams to the SSP, DSP and met the D.C. and also S.S.P. Pandey and made it clear that he would be a witness to prove how the police have been killing people if Gurmail Singh is killed in a false encounter.

Encounter Deaths

But all young men are not as fortunate. There is the tragic case of Hira Singh (21) of Kila Lal Singh village, P.S. Sadar Batala, Distt. Gurdaspur- we visited his home and met his mother Jagir Kaur. It was one of the most moving moments during our tour of Punjab; remembering that the last wish of her son to meet her once was not allowed and he was killed before she could see him, she burst into uncontrollable tears. Jagir Kaur never had much happiness, her husband Sulakhan Singh, an opium addict, used to beat her and there used to be constant quarrels; Hira Singh used to resent this even when small; his father had 4 acres of land which his neighbour Sohan Singh, a landlord and son-in-law of Congress-I M.P. (ex) Teja Singh Akapuri wanted to grab used to supply opium to Sulakhan Singh to hasten his end. When Hira Singh came of age there was a fight between the father and son in which Sulakhan Singh died and Hira Singh was accused of murder under section 304 (IPC) but later was acquitted; this was not liked by Sohan Singh and conniving with the police he began to harass this boy daily - so much so Hira Singh had to leave his village and seek shelter in the Golden Temple. During his absence the police got him involved in a number of untraceable crimes. Then came Operation Blue Star and on June 4 an old friend of Hira Singh, one Panthjit Singh of village Goharpur came to the Golden Temple only to be killed during the Army action. Seeing that his friend had been killed, Hira Singh decided to change his own name to Panthjit Singh so that in future as Panthjit Singh he would escape police harassment. He believed that they would assume that Hira Singh was one of those killed in the Army action. But things did not work out that way. The army prepared a list of arrested men before sending them to Gurdaspur jail and gave the list to the police for informing relatives. Getting the information Panthjit Singh's parents came to meet their son but found Hira Singh instead. Things moved fast after that and the police took him to the CIA staff Batala, tortured him there for two days when the SGPC Secretary of the Local Unit, Batala, went to see him in the jail he was near death.

Habeas Corpus

"Hearing of this on July,3, I applied for Habeas Corpus through Gurdaspur Court apprehending that my son would be killed either in a fake encounter or otherwise because Sohan Singh and Mohinder Singh had gone and seen the police. For 3 days I went to Gurdaspur Jail to meet him and failed, not knowing that my son had meanwhile been whisked away to CIA Staff, Batala.

"But I did not know at that time, which I learnt later from a friend with access to police sources, that Hira Singh was going to be killed on the same night of July 3.

"I also heard later that when asked about the last wish, my son said - 'I want to meet my mother.'

"And so he was then brought at 2:30 a.m. to the village, but not to meet me, but to be killed in a false encounter by the side of nearby UPDC Canal. According to the post-mortem report he was shot through the brain and the abdomen. The police story as published in the Punjab Keshari and Ajit of July 5, 1985, was that two extremist were running away on their cycles when the police chased them. One had a pistol. One man escaped and the other who was killed was Hira Singh.

"On July 5, the Military and Police did not permit any of my friends and neighbours to come for the cremation in our village. Only my second son (Dalbir Singh), my daughter (Daljit Kaur) and myself were permitted. For two months my house was cordoned off by the police and nobody was allowed to come. But the Military Police came from Batala a month after the cremation and took my younger son Dalbir aged 15-years , beating him severely all the way to the bank of the same canal where Hira Singh had been shot. In spit of the terror of the police and the military, some village ladies including my daughter and sister presented themselves before the military and asked to be shot first before Dalbir was killed. Thus he was saved.

"Sohan Singh is still after Dalbir. He accused him of keeping a revolver, but the police had failed to find any. So no case has been yet started.

"I am living in poverty because the land had already been mortgaged by my husband. Hira Singh was the only earning member of the family, and used to feed us by working as labourer on other people's land."

Today it is Hira Singh, tomorrow Dalbir, the day after another, this accumulated suffering will not remain confined to individual hearts but will grow into an all-consuming fire. The Army and the Police while jointly indulging in this favourite pastime of torturing and killing innocent people are actively fanning that flame to grow.

There was another encounter which was shown to have taken place at Bani Lodhi in North Jaimal Singh Tehsil; it was alleged that two men Suba Singh and Jaspal Singh were coming from Pakistan border - there was a fight and then the police shot them down. This case has created a stir in Gurdaspur district because not merely it was so utterly false but against a man who was highly respected. Suba Singh's wife, has filed a case of murder against the Pathankot police in October 1984 which is still pending though eight months have passed. We visited the home of Suba Singh in Talwandi village. P.S. Deepa Nagar (District Gurdaspur) and met his wife who has not yet recovered from the sudden shock of her husband's murder.

Suba Singh (35) was a teacher in Government Primary School, highly respected person, a good hockey player who had been selected for participating in the Punjab State Hockey competition. He and a constable Mukhtiar Singh of Deena Nagar PS were friends and used to visit each other; on 2.10.84 while returning from school, Suba Singh dropped in at his friend's place. Pushing the door of his room open, he found Jaspal Singh Gill - a very well known, hockey player of Punjab and a friend of Suba Singh thrown in a corner of the room, his mouth gagged all trussed up like a bundle. He saw some constables also there who seemed to be surprised to seem him there. Suba Singh quickly closed the door and meeting his friend Mukhtiar Singh on the way home told him what he had seen. Reaching home he described the incident to his wife and father. At about 6 p.m. Mukhtiar Singh came, and told him that he had come to fetch him as the SHO wanted to meet him. Suba Singh left with him and that was the last the family would see him. Feeling worried, when he did not return for a long time, his wife and son went to Deena Nagar to find out from Mukhtiar Singh what had happened; there they found the police jeep ready to leave from Deena Nagar, inside were a half-conscious Suba Singh in handcuffs, Jaspal Singh all tied up, S.S.P. Pandey, Mukhtiar Singh and a few other constables; it took the Pathankot road and disappeared. Next day on 3.10.84, finding out that they had been taken to Pathankot, they went to the P.S. Pathankot but were told there was no such person called Suba Singh there. On 5th morning they read in a local newspaper that the police had an encounter with Jaspal Singh Gill and another unknown person in which both were killed. Rushing back to Gurdaspur they found from the photograph of the 'unknown' person at Kalanaur P.S. that is Suba Singh. The post-mortem report makes it clear that he had been 'severely injured in his right hip and spine prior to his death 'Suba Sing had no land and his family of 4 small children, wife and old father depended entirely on his small income. Who will look after the family, now that he is dead. Suba Singh by inadvertently opening the door or Mr. Singh's room happened to be the only person who had seen Jaspal Singh Gill either having been already killed or going to be killed by the police. So he had to be silenced, all evidence had to be wiped out of arbitrary arrest, torture, killing. Thus a fake encounter story was put before the Police of two terrorist coming from Pakistan.

How The Repressive Policy Is Affecting The Economy Of The Small Peasant

We often read about these deaths in encounter - extremist coming from or going towards Pakistan border, roaming around in notorious Gurudaspur - the terrorist prone district as it is called these days- with rifles and revolvers. The police get rewarded for committing these cold-blooded murders - for these are nothing but murders. They get promoted for savage repression found only in Fascist States (all in the name of curbing terrorism). We who read these reports seldom realise the enormity of the tragedy that befalls a rural family when it suddenly loses a young healthy worker in the field or a lone bread-winner as in Suba Singh's case - apart from the immeasuable desolation and helpless anguish the women suffer. Case after case has come to our notice - we shall mention only one more of such unjustifiable killing. Three innocent peasants of Mand village in P.S. Sri Hargovindpur were declared proclaimed offenders (this being the first step before killing in false encounters) and then arrested from the house and then killed by the police in false encounter in S.S.P. Pandey's presence. We visited Mand village and met Mahinder Kaur, the sorrowing wife of Pyare Singh, one of the peasants killed on September 23, 1984 along with his two friends in his own house with Mahinder Kaur looking on: "At about 2:30 p.m. suddenly police came and went straight to the tube well where my husband Pyare Singh was working and told him to hand over the revolver and some other weapons which he was supposed to have had. Suddenly, I heard shots from inside our house; rushing back, I found that our two guests, Gurnam Singh (32) of Toriwal village and Mangal Singh (36) of Mikey village, had been shot dead. Soon after S.S.P. Pandey arrived and asked my husband to produce the weapons, which of course he could not. We are small farmers with a few acres of land. We don't keep weapons. But my husband asked why our two guests had been shot down. I heard the A.S.P. Joginder Singh whisper to his constables that they should not have shot down those two men - 'they were good people', but the Head Constable Jarnail Singh insisted that my husband must be shot as he was refusing to produce the wapons, and immediately they shot him. They dumped the three dead bodies in their jeep and arrested our neighbours, Dalip Singh, Balbinder Singh, Amrik Singh and Dewan Singh and took them along with the dead men to Batala Interrogation Centre. After 10 days of torture and finding no wapon they released them but went on visiting them forcing them to say that is was a case of accident. The Panchayat and 20 persons from our village went to Batala to claim the body of my husband but it was refused to them and they were threatened to be shot down if they insisted on getting it back. So I never saw him again and there was not post-mortem report." We asked "did you not go to Court?" "No", she said, "there is none to hear."

In their wide world 'there is none to hear'- simple words said without malice but with such frightening finality.

Women: Courage In The Face Of Humiliation And Death

"My world is lying in shambles all around me." J.P. had written while languishing in the loneliness of his prison. We understood the truth of these moving words when we met the women in the Punjab villages. J.P.'s word was the whole of India which he had loved and lived for , a woman's world is her home, her husband, her children, her land, her cattle and the golden corn. It is a small world which she loves and lives for, and that world today is lying in shambles all around her. Lonely, overworked, harassed daily by the Army and the police, dishonoured, beaten up for not being able to produce the men who have been missing - they came to meet us out in the open regardless of the fear of the police, woman after woman told us what they have been facing since the army action.

Fifty-year-old Swaran Kaur, wife of the ex-MLA Harbans Singh Ghuman of Ghumankala village has her house raided 45 times by the army, BSF and the police; every time they come they destroy everything furniture, bartan, beads, they mix up different types of cereals with rice; they have taken away her tractor and driven away her servants. They come anytime, enter her bedroom, pull out sleeping children, clutch her at her throat, make her stand in the sun for hours - a high blood pressure patient notwithstanding - till she faints. Of her four sons, two are in the Jodhpur Jail, one of them the youngest, a student, had gone to the Golden Temple on the 3rd to keep a vow in connection with some college test, the other had gone there to spend a night till the shops reopened and he could buy something (farmer implements, tools) for his farm. The 3rd son was pounced upon and literally lifted up and taken to CIA staff, Batala, from the bus stand where, coming from the doctor, who was treating his child for polio, he was waiting with his wife and the sick child. He has undergone inhuman torture, and (how a fake encounter had been arranged and how he was saved from being killed will be found in the Annexure No. 6). Swaran Kaur's 4th son who we interviewed has been living away from home because of police harassment; the interview which is in the Annexure No. 3 speaks for itself. This is not telling you about the boys - it is about their suffering mother. Why are the young men - hundreds of them - fine citizens of India not being allowed to live in peace and contribute to the progress of Punjab - is a very relevant question we should all try to answer. They are neither terrorist, nor extremist - but terrible torture inside the jail and the fear of torture if they are caught increasing their indignation which will justify violent action.

Gurdip Kaur who had come out of the police clutches only two days earlier has not met her husband Manohar Singh a young agriculturist of village Harchowal since October'84; this is what she told us; "My husband is an Amritdhari, so the police and the Army have troubled him a lot. Terrorised by the police, he might have run away. I do not know where, or he may have been killed by the police or by the Army. I have no information about him. The police are troubling me. For the first time on 26 November 84 the ASI of P.S. Sri Hargovindpur pulled me out of my house and pushed me into his van. They kept slapping my face and punched with their fist, they took me to the police station. They abused me in the filthiest language which I fell ashamed to repeat. There was no woman police there and the policeman started interrogating me themselves. I was detained at P.S. Sri Hargovindpur for five days, from November 26 to December 1, 1984 and then at the Ghuman Police Chowki from 1st December to 6th December. I was let off only after giving Rs. 1800 to SHO Amar Singh.

"Since then, I am taken to the police station and kept there for 10 days every month. In all I have been detained seven times. Only yesterday on May 3, I was kept in the P.S. for 12 hours and dishonoured. When I was detained in police custody in November - December 1984, they destroyed the little crop that we had grown. The Bhayas I had employed, were beaten and driven away!"

Gurdip Kaur's relatives who came to help her were rounded up; her old father, sister-in-law and her husband, her brother, and even her brother's old mother-in-law were all dragged to the thana, and tortured. It was only after they could collect Rs. 3000 and give it to Amar Singh, SHO, of Sri Hargovindpur, they were released.

"Even now the women folk among my relatives are often taken to the police station and slapped, pushed around and abused. The SHO himself does the interrogation. There are no women police. It is extremely painful for us that the policemen themselves should question us. The police lawlessness that prevails here must be bought under check."

Gurcharam Kaur (40) of village Damodar, Vice President of Istri Akali Dal District Committee (Fatehgarh Churian) said, "I have not been able to till my 5 acre farm as I have been harassed by the minion of Santokh Singh Randhawa, till the other day Punjab Congress-I President. As soon as the land is ploughed and seed sown, these gangsters come and destroy everything. We have complained to the police, and even bribed them but to no avail. During the Army action, I was arrested on the grounds that I had failed in my duty to inform the authorities about the huge catch of sophisticated arms and ammunitions stored in the complex, because I was a frequent visitor to the Guru Nanak Niwas."

There was young Satwant Kaur, wife of Ranjit Singh again from Harchowal village, and agriculturist. She said, "My husband and I are both Amritdharis; my husband was arrested and tortured, he must have been killed which may be why I have not seen him since his arrest. I myself was arrested on November 26 by the SHO of Sri Hargovindpur, badly beaten up and abused and kept for five days in the thana and then sent to Ghuman Chowk, where the SHO himself conducted the enquiries. I was released since I was innocent and nothing was found against me. The SHO takes me to the thana every month and detains me there for five - ten days and I am dishonoured. Only God knows what they do to me there. My tractor was taken away and kept at the police station from June 84 till December 84, my brothers had to pay Rs. 4000 to Amar Singh, the SHO of Sri Hargovindpur to get my tractor released.

The only request of this poor woman is that "the dishonour to which I am constantly subject to must be forthwith stopped and the SHO Amar Singh transferred."

The list is endless - so is misery and so is fortitude and magnificent pride - excepting once or twice when the memory hurts beyond human endurance - there were no tears! Tears will fall only in the enveloping solitude were none can see. These are the women of Punjab.

Atrocities On Children

A 12-year-old boy, Kalu, son of Harbans Singh of Village Agwan (P.S. Dera Baba Nanak) had been taken away at night to the dreaded Interrogation Centre at Amritsar four days earlier. 'None knew what had happened to him,' his uncle Darshan Singh told us. In Kala Nangal, two boys had become mental wrecks after having been in Military custody.

The story of the children is the story of our shame. So gross and insensitive the political parties have become that not one of the 11 members of Parliament representing 10 political parties visiting Amritsar on August 1, 1984 felt like taking any action, when they were informed that 25 children between 4 and 12 had been detained in the Ludhiana jail under section 107/262 having been rounded up from the Golden Temple in the early July. It was Smt. Kamla Devi Chattopadhyaya - old and very sick - who moved in the matter and discovered the shocking fact that some of the detained children were blind and there were in the jail several women and old men; obviously they had been found too dangerous by the Army to be allowed to remain outside. She moved the Supreme Court with a writ petition and taking "serious note of the state of affairs obtaining in Punjab the Supreme Court ordered the authorities to release "all children kept under detention in various jails and children's homes in the State of Punjab" immediately. The orders however were not carried out - minors continued to remain in jails and being questioned the jail Superintendent, Patiala, admitted that there were many children still inside his jail also. The story of ghastly torture of young boys as well as of other arrested people has been revealed fully by Justice P.S. Cheema, Vigilance Judge, Sessions Division, Patiala, during his visit to Ladha Kothi (Sangrur Distt.) jail. This can be seen in the Annexure No. 1. Since violations of the rule of law is now the rule and the Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act has made the Army supreme. Major Das picked up six children who were taking their examination in the Jaffarwal village School in September. They were taken to the Military Camp at Tibri and tortured there. He came back to the village again and raided houses of 5 other boys - 3 of them were arrested and tortured for 7 days. There was no FIR, no charge sheet, the only proof that the army had taken them and tortured them was the signs of the torture themselves; young Charan Singh who was a fine runner with ambition to represent his school in Punjab's Running Competition has become lame, he said, "I told them break my arm but don't twist my leg, they did not listen."

Torture

From the Annexures it will be seen how the Army tortured people only because they were religious Sikhs; 65-year-old Swaran Singh, was the Sarpanch of Jaffarwal village; young Puran Singh, a technician of Gurdaspur. a highly respect farmer, young Amrik Singh of Aulakh village and so many others had to undergo the most sadistic, cruel and bestial torture - we had interviewed them and felt completely satisfied about their innocence.

We shall mention only young Puran Singh's case who was tortured so inhumanly both by the Army and the Police that it ought to be taken up by the Amnesty International.

Puran Singh became an Amritdhari in 1977 and had no interest whatsoever in politics, but little did he know that because his mother, a Panchayat member did not help a Cong-I man to be elected as Sarpanch and who eventually got elected, it would make him suffer such inhuman torture.

"Being told that I was busy with my prayer, they took my younger brother and made it clear that he would get released only after I presented myself at the police station. Next morning I went to P.S. Dhariwal from where I was taken to P.S. Gurdaspur where I was kept for 6-7 days and tortured. I was made to lie on my face. A thick log was placed from above on the back of my thighs and the legs were pressed upwards. It caused a lot of muscular pain. Sometimes, I would be forced to stand for long hours with knees bent to the estreme and hands raised upwards, till I felt exhausted and became unconscious. When I cam to, they would give me a little water and again continue this torture till I fell unconscious. The third method was to make me sit on the ground , my hands tied at my back, one person would stand behind me with his knees to my back so that I would be firmly fixed to the ground and then two others would stretch my legs apart to the very maximum. The pain at the groin was excruciating. Sometimes they would beat the soles of my feet with sticks. While torturing me they would repeatedly ask, "What is your relationship with Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale?". What is your relationship with the Federation (AISSF)? and how many times have you crossed the border?"

"There was no record of my detention. After a week or so, I was released. I was again arrested in July at night and taken to P.S. Dhariwal and mercilessly beaten with leather straps. They made me stand with hands ties and raised high while two persons would pull my legs apart, until I fell unconscious. This time also there was no charge and no record was kept. I was released after 4-5 days.

"I was again take to P.S. Dhariwal in August and interrogated about people who had absconded, some of whom I know. I was again tortured by the same methods but with a little less intensity and was released after five days.

"My agony was not over. On September 10, 1984, as I was coming home from duty I was taken at 11 p.m. at Kanuan (Electricity Substation) and this time by the Army. My eyes were blindfolded and my hands were tied behind my back. I was put inside a military vehicle and vulgar and abusive words were showered at me. They asked, "How many Hindus have you killed", "In how many actions have you been active?"

"I was taken to an unknown destination and there I was hit on my chest and abdomen, not allowed to sleep. I would be kicked whenever I would fall asleep. On September 16, 1894 the army handed me over to the Dhariwal police where I remained till 7th October when I was produced before the magistrate with a charge-sheet that I was shouting slogan of "Khalistan Zindabad u/s 124 A. I was given police remand up to 25th October. On 19th October I was shifted to Ladha Kothi in Sangrur Distt. One of the worst torture chambers. I was again produced before the Magistrate on 26th October, when the remand was extended up to 1st November.

"In 'Ladha Kothi' I would hear cries. The same question would be asked of us again and again and we would be told to say something. Not knowing what to say, we would be confused and then we would be tortured separately. A rod would be pressed behind one's neck and hands tied high up and then the body would be bent. Another method applied was a log tied behinds one's back and passed between the arms and hands tied up and then the legs being stretched to the maximum till one became unconscious. One day I was hung from the ceiling, my legs dangling in the air.

"I was sent to Gurdaspur Jail on November 1st and was there up to December 7th when I was release on bail. I was acquitted in February 1985 as no evidence could be produced by the prosecution.

I was suspended from service in September 1984 when I was picked up by the Army but I have been reinstated on 24th March 1985."

Image Of The Army

One of the painful things which we have to report is that today in Punjab's rural area which have given their sons to the Indian Army with such pride and love - the image of that Army lies shattered. The inhuman atrocities they have committed on innocent people - shot down little boys because they had black turbans, denied drinking water when prisoners were dying of thirst in the June heat so that they were ready to drink their own urine- the communal overtone in the brutal treatment that have administered to the Amritdharis, the way the have looted valuables and made money and of course their wanton destruction of the Golden Temple and shooting down of the common pilgrims inside the various Gurdwaras of Punjab have earned them the name of an 'Occupation Army' in the countryside of Punjab, and this name is going to stick.

Yet, to be fair the Army is only carrying out orders. If they have tortured people in their various Camps, they had the green signal from the Central Government. India is the only county which did not sign the new UN convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as punishment. The rulers who say that they believe in democracy, secularism, freedom of worship, social justice and human rights have themselves enacted black laws and have let loose unbashed State terrorism which has been unleashed specially on the Sikhs - because they are Sikhs.

The glaring discrimination shown at the Naval Center against the Apprentice Rajinder Singh (20) son of Mohinder Singh of village Ladha Kunda at Jamnagar Navy Training Centre ought to be taken note of by authorities in the Naval Headquarters. The unceremonious way he was discharged, the closing down of the Gurdwara preventing him for taking part in the Guru Nanak's birthday festival show how communal our entire set up in our defence forces. It is a dangerous portent and one must beware of it (see Appendix No. 1).

During the Curfew in June according to Advoacate Bhagowaila the Hindus were allowed to go out but not the Sikhs, and in the encounters it is always the Sikh youth who is killed, because either he is a smuggler or a terrorist - obviously there is no Hindu smuggler in Punjab these days nor one Hindu who believes in violence.

Police Terror

In the past 2 years the enactment of new laws in quick succession: (i) the Punjab Disturbed Area Act, the Chandigarh Disturbed Areas Act, (ii) The Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act, (iii) The code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment Act)/ (iv) The Terrorist Affected Areas (Special Courts) Act - besides the National Security Act (2nd Amendment) - each remaining one of the South Africa's repressive laws - was meant to bring Punjab to her knees, not merely 'to subdue' her but 'to vanquish' her a word much used by Mrs. Gandhi during Emergency while referring to the Opposition leaders who were accused of attempting to disintegrate the country as the Akali Sikhs are alleged to be doing today.

The police who in any case are not known for their adherence to law - have now become immeasurably more arbitrary, more cruel because of the sanction provided by the black laws. They have devised a distinct pattern of behaviour: (i) repeated arrests, (ii) repeated raids on a particular household, (iii) repeated torture of one particular person, (iv) repeated harassment of relative, (v) terrorising of women and children often molestation of women, (vi) demanding of huge sums of money for agreeing to release innocent people, (vii) planting of arms to show encounters and then killing young men, (viii) active participation with Cong-I leaders, (ix) preventing the crops being harvested.

Mahinder Kaur (50), the widowed mother of Mukhvinder Singh (24-25) of village Barriar, P.S. Distt. Gurdaspur, said her son never returned home after the Army action - she does not know if he is dead or alive, but the police have raided her house countless times, often twice a week. The crops have not been allowed to be harvested. So acute is harassment by all the Security forces - the police, Army and the CRP - that "We had to leave our house, it remained locked between July-December 1984". Their economic condition is pitiable. Balkar Singh (45) of village Khujala P.S. Sri Hargovindpur, surrendered himself to the police in October - an agriculturist owning 8-9 acres of land, for 20 day he was tortured in P.S. Qadian and continuously interrogated on whether he was associated with 'extremists', whether he had supplied them arms etc. After 20 days he was released to be again arrested after one month and again illegally detained without any record of arrest, any charge sheet and without production before the Court of Magistrate. For 10 days he was again tortured and interrogated and then released. Once again he was arrested on 27th April 1985. Again there was no FIR, no charge sheet but the case of rifle-snatching by two extremists from the Home Guards near village Panchgarina P.S. Qadin was hoisted on him and another young man Kulwant Singh who was working on his farm with the thresher when he was taken away, and for 40 hours nobody knew what had happened to them. They were continuously tortured and interrogated and not allowed any food or water during this time. On May 4, a day previous to our meeting Balkar Singh they were released. His rice crop has been destroyed, he has six children and the economic hardship he is facing is considerable.

In Khajera village at least in 10 families arrest have been made - 6 men are still in jail but without FIR or production before the Court. "For every 1 member of a family missing or detained members of 20 other families would be harassed and troubled in every conceivable way and their crops would be destroyed", said Sukhdev Singh, a villager. He adds "repression is counter-productive, repression of one Amritdhari - does not reduce their number, rather fresh recruits have multiplied".

"When the attack takes place Then the sprit is kindled."

For the release of Amarjit Kaur, wife of Joginder Singh, a graduate and an Amritdhari Granthi of Darbar Sahib of Village Manepur, P.S. Kalanaur - missing since the Army Action - Amarjit Kaur's father has paid Rs 1400 on one occasion. She has been taken to the P.S. four times and illegally detained for five-ten days each time. Every time the police want money. Now they are harassing Joginder Singh's sister's husbands - Prem Singh of village Ahawan P.S. Kalanaur; Bibi Bir Kaur, mother of Amarjit Kaur said - "this harassment must stop." Even the fodder for the cattle is destroyed. Family after family has to pay never less than Rs. 1000 to keep the arrest at by. "But how many of us can pay so much money all the time?" They said.

From one family - in Qadian village-21 people were arrested and interrogated together at Amritsar. They were being harassed for not producing Ajit Singh, son of Hardial Singh - he was arrested, tortured, then released, then again arrested, again tortured, again released- this has gone on at least 10 time since May 1984 when Ajit Singh had left home saying he was going to drive trucks. There was no news of him - when in July '84 the police came and demanded that he must be produced. 'The story of the police was that he had crossed over to Pakistan and we know his whereabouts' said Ajit Singh's mother - "We are a poor family having only 2 acres of land and we have 10 children, we work for big landlords as share-croppers, my husband has been so badly tortured that he cannot work."

During our stay we read in the newspapers that Ajit Singh who was actually driving a truck in Gwalior had been arrested. One realises the enormity of oppression that has been going on mere suspicion - and without any check.

Keep Up The Spirit

In spite of the prevailing sadness and tenseness the spirit of the people is being kept up through songs and poems. Even though Guru Nanak's songs are forbidden as Tagore's had been during the emergency. The irrepressible Surinder Singh Ragi (Patna Sahib walla), the head ragi of Darbar Sahib with a golden voice said, "I speak out through the songs of Guru Nanak". He was under house arrest from June 10 - June 18 and then kept inside the Golden Temple for two and half months. "We were ordered to sing Gurbani in order to tell the world that all was well and everything was normal. On August 4 the Government warned him that he must not sing Guru Nanak's Shabad. "I did not stop singing it only reduced the number of lines. There is a warrant against me under section 124-A Sedition, but Government has not arrested me yet though it has banned my songs." The allegory which is clear to a Punjabi speaking person cannot be brought out in English translation - so we are giving both the original as well at the English rendering of a couple of stanzas of the songs of the Ragi:

Shabad

Kutta Raj Behaliye Phir Chakki Chatte
Sappey Dudh Pilaiye Mukh Thi Satte
Pathar Paani Rakhiye Man Hatth na Chatte
Chooa Chandan parhare khar kheh Palatte
Teaun Mindak par Nindeaun Hatth Mool no Hatte
Aapan Haathi Aapni Jarh Aap ao Patte

Meaning

A dog even if crowned would per his habit still lick the flour mill.
A snake, even if fed with milk, would still spout venom
A stone kept immersed in water would still have a dry inner portion.
A donkey, even if smeared with 'chandan' would still roll in dust.
Whatever happens, a backbiter would not change his/her habits
(Accordingly, a backbiter would uproot and destroy oneself).

Shabad

Kal Kaati Raaje Kasai
Dharam Paankh kar Oodoreya
Koorh Amavas sach Chandrama
Deesay Naahi Kay Chharhaya

Meaning

The time was the sword, the king were butchers
The righteousness had taken wings and flown away
There was darkness of untruth all around and the Moon of Truth was enveloped.

There was a time when the National All India Congress had rushed a fact-finding committee headed by Jawaharlal Nehru to Nabha, where hundreds of Akalis protesting the arbitrary taking over the Sikh State of Nabha by the British Administrator had been thrown into jail and tortured. Later when the Sikhs sent a thousand strong jatha many of them were killed and several of them wounded. Gidwani, a member of the team was also arrested with the Akalis and kept inside the Nabha Jail till he was on the verge of death. There was wide appreciation of Sikhs for their spirit of sacrifice, religious fervour and passionate love for their faith. Gandhi ji had sent a telegram congratulating them after they won the Battle of the Key to the Golden Temple's Toshakhana.

Things began to change- attitude hardened after independence of India but today in 1985, 1923 looms to dim that almost it almost feel like other times in other climes.

Yet there are the same people , the same patriotic citizens of India who today as in those days would, without complaint, while being tortured die reciting the name of their Gurus. These are those who were killed in Jallianwalla Bagh - 799 of them compared to 501 non-Sikhs.

What has been lost sight of is that to a Sikh, be he a religious one, atheist or an agnostic - a Gurdwara is not just a building of mortar and cement, of marble and stone, it stands for his living Guru who sustains him in his hours of trial. By desecrating that place of worship which could have been avoided that symbol of strength and solace has been desecrated.

What Kind Of Khalistan

While coming to the end of this section we should like to observe that though we never found a Sikh who was communal, that old spontaneous trust in a Hindu as a brother is gone, for his heart is broken and it will take long for the wound to heal; and the methods the ruling party has adopted will not heal it. Even today, no one we met wanted Khalistan as an independent separate State like Pakistan or Bangladesh - not ever Harbhajan Kaur Khalsa, the Militant Secretary of Istri Akali Dal in Jalandhar. She had been arrested and taken to the Special Court because at a meeting addressed by Bibi Rajinder Kaur on September 11, 1984 she had lifted her hand in approval to the question if they wished to have a place were they could breathe freely. Harbhajan Kaur was out on bail and when asked if she wanted Khalistan, she said "Khalistan is not outside India, but it is a place which Sikhs can call 'Apna Ghar' with more autonomy. We are against 'be-insaf' if we defend our temples, we are 'Atankwadi' and arrested and tortured, if Delhi people killed thousands of Sikhs - they are still free. I was declared an extremist - he or she who speaks truth and is fearless is an extremist.

"All our martyrs - Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Rajguru are then extremists. They loved our country and died for our land. Thus Khalistan is a place within India where we Sikhs can live without being humiliated, with dignity, without being killed." When asked about Khalistan, Sri Kripal Singh quoted a small Urdu poem in answer:

You say we should leave the garden?
What a joke you are making!
We have shed our blood
For its each and every blossom."

(Chaman Ko Chhod Den?
Yeh Dillagi Bhi Khoob Rahi!
Hamara Khoon Baha Hai,
Kali Kali Ke Liye.).