The methods of Indian police may seem to be alien and unbelievable to the average American, who has a high regard for statements given by the police, but we must remember Indian police as it is today, was formed to serve the colonial masters, and not the people. After 1947, they serve the new “native” colonial masters, and are instruments of the systematic and planned program against the minorities, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians. The police in India regularly commits perjury, fabricated cases, use third degree methods of torture till the victims “‘confess to their crimes” in a desperate attempt to stop the torture and so on.
To get an inkling of what police and the system in India mean to the Sikhs, we have to think of the plight of the Black defendants in the south before the Civil Rights Movement. Police brutality would be somewhat analogous, though much worse than the situation in the United States before 1966, the pre Miranda period when police was accused of using similar methods here. This excerpt from the White Paper is sadly “‘normal” for the people suffering at the hands of Indian police:
Thousands of political activists and their associates, have been incarcerated in jails under various cases, how the police fabricated these cases is being illustrated below:
Three vans of the Punjab police, CHA 6483, CHK 3324, and one without any license plates, came to village Chani in district Ropar, on May 2, 1989 at 8 am. The plain clothes men in these vans wanted to arrest two young men, Harinder Singh and Balbir Singh. There were no cases registered against them anywhere. They were presented to the police by village council leaders of Chungi Kalan, Chungi Khurd, Badali, and other important people. The plain clothes men said that they were being taken to record their statements. After a long discussion with the villagers, the police took Harinder Singh and Balbir Singh away in the vans.
They were not released despite police promises to the contrary. Finally in desperation the parents took the matter up with Governor Ray, Director General of police, KPS Gill, Inspector General Gill, the Inspector General of Police, Chandigarh and Senior Superintendent Police Ropar, but there was no reply. They kept on asking for information on the whereabouts of the youth. Their “missing” notices were published in newspapers on May I1.
A Punjabi language paper published from Jalandhar printed a report on page 8 in its May 19 issue that Ludhiana police had arrested five suspects on the charges of conspiracy to commit robbery at Samrala Chowk. They were named as Harinder Singh and Balbir Singh, both residents of village Chungi Kalan Dharam Singh resident of village Shaid in Amritsar district, Baljit Singh of village Khanpur Bahila and Ram Singh of Badala (Ropar). This news item had been released to the press by the police. The villagers and members of the village council were wonder struck that how could those who had been taken by the police in front of their own eyes two months ago, and who could not be produced by the police in court, be caught in the alleged conspiracy on May 19?
Truth is quite contrary to the police claim of having killed three dangerous extremists of the Babbar Khalsa at village Rupo wali in the Majithia district in June 1989,
According to the report filed by the police, “three extremists Angrej Singh, Bhupinder Singh Bittu and Sukhvinder Singh Raju were arrested on the basis of information provided by an important witness. A police party led by station house Officer Mahinder Singh arrested them on June 21 at 5:45 pm at a drain bridge near Rupowali village, while they were planning a major conspiracy. Police said they had recovered one assault rifle and 50 cartridges from each of them as well as 11 kilograms of explosive material and 25 detonators. According to the police they shouted pro Khalistan slogans at the time of the arrest.
The police version is fabricated and far from true. Police arrested Bhupinder Singh Bittu from his house on June 17, a fact of which his parents notified the Punjab Governor telegraphically. When the police came to arrest Sukhwinder Singh, alias Raju he was not at home but had gone to Ludhiana for some work. Police took away his elder brother and said that he would be exchanged for Sukhwinder Singh. The next day Raju presented himself at the police station and they released his brother. When all the influence of the family could not get him released, they finally sent telegrams to Riberio, Ray and Gill on the 21st.
According to the police report, the arrest is shown to have occurred at 5:45 pm during the raid. The First Information Report about this incident is filed at 9:10 pm, but the police party is still at the scene of the incident, because they are required to investigate. The paper work normally takes a long time. In this case however, the details of the incident are made available to the newspapers in a press note signed by the Senior Superintendent of police, so that it could be published in their June 22 issues. It is obvious that the news was released even before the time the incident was said to have taken place.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 6, 1990
