The World Sikh Organization has learned that Jaswant Singh Khalra, who recently visited) Canadian Parliamentarians only two months ago (to apprise them of continuing human rights abuses in India), was forcibly arrested the morning of Sept. 6th from his home in ‘Amritsar.
Though details are sketchy, we are advised’ by sources in the Punjab that Khalra may be detained in Tarn Tarn, India, without charges. Reports have indicated that while washing his car, the soft-spoken human Rights activists was abducted by police officials, with no explanation or justification offered to family members. It is believed that Khalra, the General Secretary of the Human Rights Wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal, was arrested because he was the lead investigator in a case that incriminated the Superintendent of the Tarn Tarn Police Force. Khalra’s investigation brought to international scrutiny the cremation grounds found in India that contained over25,000 bodies of civilians, 6,000 of these bodies were attributed to the illegal, tortuous actions of the Tarn Tarn Police Force. All the 25,000 bodies were proven to be victims of extrajudicial killings by Police, involuntary disappearances (a common method of police intimidation), and false encounters that are often staged by Indian officials.
Khalra’s relatives in the UK, and his friends here in Canada, sincerely hope that Indian officials will make this human Rights activist another statistic to be found in other cremation grounds that are suspected to be scattered throughout India.
Khalra has lead a strong international campaign to educate people on the continuing violence perpetrated against civilians in India. The constant persecution of his peers has inspired former high court justice, Ajit Singh Bains, Simranjit Singh Mann, and Mr. Khalra, to focus international attention on the daily crimes committed against humanity in India, Unfortunately all three of these philanthropists have faced the retribution of Indian officials for their commitment to the tights of humanity. We hope Khalra will not languish in jail, ‘without charges, for the same duration as Justice Bains, or S.S. Mann.
We hope the international media will publicize the plight of Khalra, as there is a considerable fear for his safety while he is unlawfully incarcerated by the ‘Superintendent for Police in Tarn Tarn, India.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 15, 1995
