A statement by the Punjab Government spokesman reported in a section of the press on April 13 giving a clean chit to a Brigadier (R.P.Sinha of the Indian Army) who abused and insulted panches and Sarpanches of the Amritsar district at village Sarangra on March 8 and who had made derogatory remarks about their womenfolk is a clear signal that “The King can do no wrong”. The PHRO investigations showed that the Brigadier had threatened the villager that all male members would be killed and their women folk taken to army camps to breed a new race if there was any militant activity in their villages. The Brigadier’s activities reveal the worth of the Prime Minister’s claim that the army was deployed in the State for conducting “routine exercises”. Killing of six innocent Sikh farmers at Nathuke Burj village in Amritsar district by the army is also a telling story of how the army is conducting itself in Punjab.
According to information collected from different channels by the PHRO six villagers of Nathu Chak riding an ox-driven cart were on their way to petrol pump to fetch diesel in the early hours of February 26. As they neared Nathuke Burj village they were asked by an ambush party of the Army to stop. They did not heed the order. The army men opened fire without warming killing four of them on the spot and injuring the other two. The two succumbed to their injuries before being shifted to hospital. The incident took place around 4:15 a.m. By 6.a.m. a large number of villagers from the surrounding areas gathered and sat on dharna around the dead bodies.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 13, 1991
