CHANDIGARH: The cost of restoration of normalcy in Punjab is too much by way of violation of human rights and this continues to be of major concern to the West.
Talking to newsmen here on Jan9 Canadian ruling Liberal Party MP Herb Dhaliwal who is one of the three MPs of Indian origins said he had broached this subject at a dinner meeting with Chief Minister Beant Singh this week and had favored instituting a judicial enquiry into killings in “fake encounters” to clear the mist. However he said the response of the Chief Minister was far from encouraging as he preferred not to respond. He made it clear that he was for respecting human rights of everybody and would not defend the violations of human rights by the militants. However in a democratic set-up the law of the land should take its own course
Dhaliwal said during his visit to Punjab he met a number of persons who had been one time or the at her illegally detained and tortured without any case having been framed against them He talked to a number of police officers also who he said justified the extreme step after having lost faith in judiciary; He said many persons had mysteriously disappeared and their whereabouts had not been disclosed by the police There were many in Canada whose relatives had met similar fate in Punjab. Referring to the November 1984 violence in Delhi he said the guilty must be punished to give justice to the victims and appreciated the statements of Congress MP Jagmeet Singh Brar on this issue.
He welcomed the liberal economic policies introduced by Union Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and expressed the hope the trend would continue Dhaliwal came to attend the International Punjabi Society conference in New Delhi.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 14, 1994
