Dear Editor,

I have just received a faxed message from a journalist based in Ludhiana,

Punjab, informing me that two young brothers have been picked up by plainclothes policemen from their home the night of Dec.7th. The older brother Ram Singh is age 18, and his younger brother Hari Singh is 15 years old. Both are students. They were picked up from their village Kaunke near Jagraon, District Ludhiana.

Their mother Mrs. Gurmail Kaur informed the Press that her sons were picked up from their home in the presence of the family and members of the village community by about a dozen plainclothes armed (some with AK47 automatic weapons) police. They were travelling in Maruti vans. They neither had ‘warrants for their arrest nor did they give any explanation as to why the boys wore being arrested nor did they say to where they were being taken.

The boy’s father, Gurdev Singh Kaunke, was a very popular Sikh activist and ‘was also the ex-official of the Sikh political headquarters, the Akal Takht Sahib at Amritsar, He was not involved in any armed struggle but he politically propagated Sikh rights in Punjab. Mr. Gurdev Singh Kaunke was in police custody when, on the night of Dec. 31, 1991, the police claimed that he escaped from their custody and since that date, he has “disappeared.” Amnesty International has been involved in the campaign to determine his whereabouts.

I spoke with the journalist who has sent me this information and he has informed me that Mrs. Gurmail Kaur is participating actively in social and ‘community projects and is gaining popularity and support from the masses in her area and because of her husband’s image and popularity with the Sikh people, the Indian State may be getting concerned with her rising status. This could be an attempt to intimidate and pressurize her to contain her activities.

SHRI is gravely concerned about the safety of the two brothers and urgently request you to take urgent steps to intervene for the safety and release of Ram ‘Singh’ and Hari Singh.

Iqbal Singh, Sikh Human Rights Internet Reading, UK.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 15, 1995