LUDHIANA: The Punjab Human Rights Organization alleged that the ten Sikh youths were killed in cold blood by the Pilibhit police in U.P. on July 12 the Organization accused the BJP Government for the crime.
The PHRO Chairman D.S.Gill while releasing a report to the Press here said that the Pilibhit incident should not be seen as an isolated act but it was a culmination of what the law enforcing agencies were doing in Punjab. It started with the Sikh carnage of 1984 when the present Prime Minister P.V Narsimha Rao was the Home Minister. Then Gill added came the Bidar and Jammu anti-Sikh violence instigated and encouraged by the state agencies and now it is Pilibhit the mass murder of Sikh youths these incidents he said proved many people’s belief that the Sikhs are not safe in any part of this country.
PHRO team comprising Mohinder Singh Grewal (General Secretary) and Harchand Singh Gill advocate and assisted by Vinay Kumar Saxena and Mohan Singh both advocates from Pilibhit visited the spots met dozens of persons including relatives of the victims and pilgrims who were eyewitnesses to the abduction of eleven Sikh youths by the police.
According to investigation report a Sikh pilgrimage party comprising nine women three children two old men and eleven youths coming from Hazoor Sahib on their way to Pilibhit on Hindustan Travels Bus (UP-26-0245) was stopped at Kachia bridge 120 kms from Pilibhit in Badaun district by the Pilibhit police party led by Barjinder Sharma additional S.P. All the eleven youths were taken out of the bus and bundled into the police van. The bus and the van were escorted to Madho Tanda rest house in the jungle at noon District police chief R.D. Tripathi allegedly responsible for gunning down over 20 Muslims at Malian a near Meerut last year also reached there.
The police chief after deliberation and probably getting clearance from the Home Department decided to eliminate the youths. All the eleven youths were taken out in police vehicles in three batches at the night fall. The report revealed that Baljit Singh Pappu Jaswant Singh Jassa Harminder Singh Mintu and Surjan Singh were killed in Mahauf jungle in Gajrauli police station while Jaswant Singh Fauji Bachitar Singh Lakhwinder Singh and Narinder Singh were gunned down in fagnai jungle on a river bank and Tarsem Singh and Kartar Singh were murdered in Puranpura jungle. The fate of the eleventh youth Talwinder Singh (23) resident of Nawadia Banki village in Shahjahan pur district is still unknown according to his father Malkiat Singh. After the removal of the youths from there the other pilgrims were left off at Pilibhit at 10 P.M. by the police.
The police version that the Sikh youths were killed in armed clashes is totally false and fabricated because they were unarmed and were already in police custody since 11:45 a.m. that day the report added.
The fact Gill added that the State Government announced rewards to the police officials for their act of bravery goes to show the involvement of the BJP govt.
The police have not provided the copies of the FIRs to the court so far remarked the additional District Magistrate Pilibhit Balwant Singh Chauhan on the PRHO petition filed on July 22.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 16, 1991
