“Des Prades” is a widely circulated Punjabi weekly issued Val was not only its owner from London. Tarsem Singh Purewal was but also a live-wire editor Purewal wrote no editorials because the paper was keen to project its non partisan image Yet Des Prades was at the center of many 3 storm Purewal had the knack of kicking up controversies and resolving them in terms of raising the paper’s circulation. He was what his readers wanted Purewal to be. Thus, although he was not proclaimed supporter of Kharistan, writing on or about Khalistan was what Des Prades did in the past few years Since most politically conscious Sikhs in the western tries thought of Khalistan, Purewall tried to satisfy them by writing extensively on the subject. This could not have been to the liking of Indian authorities and their intelligence agencies who schemed to assure themselves of having conquered Sikhs in India. That is precisely why Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan’s Khalistan-government-in-exile and Dr. Aulakh’s Council of Khalistan have accused the Indian agents of Purewal’s murder
However, it is easy to accuse anyone of a charge but difficult to furnish proof. The killers have left no clue. The British police have issued no statement so far about the line of investigation. Evidently they are making enquiries with an open mind. Hundreds of persons have been questioned. A team of investigators is planning to visit Punjab. The Khalistan government has alleged that murder may have been planned by K.P.S. Gill who visited the U.K. and Germany a few months ago. The motive evidently was to blame the murder on the Sikh militants to discredit the movement in the western countries and to silence the anti-India voice. The British police may pursue this line of enquiry.
If the police finds the above line of reasoning worth going into, it could profitably investigate all the quick writings that have tried to misdirect the enquiries. For instance, the Sunday Telegraph just a day after the murder carried an article by one Amrit Roy who thought that Purewal was probably murdered because the militants suspected he was becoming too moderate.” One could investigate as to who Roy met before he penned his thoughts. Could he have been briefed by the Indian agents to misguide the British police? Roy found his theory plausible and attributed this to those who knew the South all politics well. Who could those experts be?
We firmly believe that the British police will finally uncover the killer or the killers. All Sikh organizations in the U.K. and elsewhere should cooperate with the authorities. Meanwhile Purewal’s contribution to the cause of Sikh journalism deserves to be recalled. His newspaper was instrumental in linking his vast readership with Punjab and its problems. It is hoped that the members of Purewal’s family will take the tragedy with fortitude and continue with the struggle the slain editor initiated and pursued relentlessly.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 17, 1995
