CHANDIGARH, India: The security forces have killed 345 freedom fighters and arrested nearly 5,000 during the past 20 months in Punjab. This was disclosed by the Punjab Director General of Police, J.F. Ribeiro, during his talk from the Jullundur station of All India Radio. He said that the freedom fighters adopted all sorts of means to gain respectability and acceptance but claimed that they did not succeed in their mission. He harped upon his now defunct claim that there were only a handful of people fighting for Khalistan.
In his characteristic obduracy, he refused to accept his total failure in suppressing the freedom fighters, the unlimited powers given to the police and subordination of judiciary to his killer officers and all other unconstitutional steps taken at his behest have proved totally counterproductive. In fact, they have recoiled with much greater ferocity and are chiefly responsible for the present impasse, say the political analysts.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 20, 1987
