Punjab Human Rights Organisation is concerned about the Government of India’s reaction to the recent calls by US Congress for protection of human rights in Punjab and against proliferation of atomic weapon in south East Asia.

New Delhi sharply reacted to the amendment passed by the US House of Representatives recommending President Bush to ensure that International Military Education and Training Programme covered an enhanced appreciation of human rights by India’s security forces, but it kept silent on human rights aspect of the US debate.

Instead of responding to the American Secretary of State, James Baker’s request to check human rights abuses, New Delhi arrogantly tried to rebuff the purpose of the US amendment saying that ‘Indian armed forces need no lessons from others in compassion, morality and application of human rights and humanitarian standards’’.

Similarly New Delhi took no notice of the US State Department 1990 report which had indicted Indian security forces for significant human rights abuses in Punjab and Kashmir. There is no let-up in state repression rather it has been stepped up in the recent past.

PHRO is also concerned that New Delhi did not pay any heed to the UN recommendations to review its anti-terrorists laws which violated international covenant on civil and political rights. These special laws, according to the UN Human Rights Committee, gave security forces the right to shoot at sight, conduct summary trials and detain persons without a warrant.

PHRO understands that Japan, a political power backed by its newly-acquired economic clout, put up politico-military conditionality’s including the one of respecting human rights before it gave aid to India only because of India’s poor record army NSG Commandos, the CRPF and the police then started house to house search of the entire village.

In the afternoon the men collected at the gurdwara heard a hue and cry of the women and children. A few old women came running and weeping to the gurdwara around 6 p.m. They informed the menfolk that “their mothers, sisters and daughters are being made victims of sexual abuses including tapes. The armed forces are behaving like violent beasts”.

Avtar Singh, member panchayat, along with Karnail Singh and Pritam Singh informed Colonel B. C. Lugwal about the misdeeds of the security forces but to no avail. The armed Personnel continued trespassing into the houses and at gunpoint molesting and gang raping the women without any consideration of their age, married or unmarried, disclosed one Buta Singh.

A 17-year-old unmarried girl (Darshan Kaur daughter of Bella Singh, a crippled old man) was raped by three CRPF men at gun point. The security personnel also molested her mother (Chindo) and maternal aunt (Harjit Kaur). In the course of the incident, the mother resisted. The CRPF men broke her arms. The father of the girl could do nothing as he was confined to bed. The only younger brother, Charan Singh was a captive at the gurdwara.

The gang rape and molestation of Sikh women

The PHRO team interviewed the girl. It also met the mother-in-law (Sampuran Kaur) and sister-in-law (Harjinder Kaur, 15-year-old) of another newly-wed victim (Sukhwinder Kaur, 20-year-old, wife of Jasbir Singh son of Karnail Singh) who herself was not present in the village for the PHRO interview. She was completely stripped and was gravely molested. She had returned to her parents’ village for the unbearable shame of the incident. The mother-in-law and the sister-in-law were reluctant to reveal anything about themselves. According to some, they also met the same fate. Sukhwinder Kaur (wife of Sarbjit Singh), yet another victim, is said to be similarly treated.

Sawinder Kaur (wife of Tara Singh) was brutally molested. Other victims of sexual abuses included Swaran Kaur (60), Sukhminder Kaur (46), Raj(21), Beero (48) and her daughter Chhabbi (18). The modesty of many other women was also outraged but they did not come forward to reveal anything because of various reasons.

A three-year-old daughter Sarbjit Kaur and a five-year old crippled son Sahib Singh were snatched away from the lady victims in the process and thrown on the dunghill leaving them to no one’s care.

Men and women interviewed by PHRO sobbed uncontrollably. Their gestures spoke of the horror rather than their words. “Worse could not have happened to us”, they cried in one voice. The ransacking of Sangha village.

Besides the rape and molestation, the security forces, the villagers alleged, took away about half kg gold and Rs. 65000/breaking open locks of the gurdwara and the entire cash and gold, cameras and _ tape-recorders and other articles from most of the households. For instance, from Makhan Singh’s house the armed forces decamped with gold earrings and tops, from Mohinder Singh’s house Rs. 1300 and a wrist watch and from Hardip Singh’s house gold earrings and a finger ring. Mohinder Singh lost even the hired crockery brought by him for a marriage ceremony. Buta Singh had only Rs. 25 and that too were taken away, according to a retired Sub-Inspector of Police, Rattan Singh, who was dubbed by some security men as terrorist when he requested them not to misbehave with the ladies and the children. They took away his son Balbir Singh’s watch from his home.

Rattan Singh, the retired police officer, could be saved only on the intervention of a Police Inspector present in the party when the army men pointed their guns towards him during the altercation.

The above report was circulated by PHRO on May 31. It was ensured that leading newspapers such as The Tribune, the Indian Express, Ajit, Akali Patrika, Punjabi Tribune, Aj Di Awaz, the Hindustan Times and the Times of India received the Press release.

Daily Ajit was delivered the release at Jalandhar

Surprisingly not one newspaper carried the report. It was understood that intelligence agencies became active as soon as the news was delivered in the offices of the newspapers. Each one of these newspapers obliged the authorities by neatly blacking out the news. Barjinder Singh of the daily Ajit, however, later regretted that he could not carry the report.

The army and the Para-military forces evidently were motivated by the urge to teach a lesson to the villagers in this part of the border district of Amritsar for sustaining militancy and generally to execute the threat given some time ago by Brigadier R.P. Sinha of the armed forces to decimate the Sikhs and to give birth to a new race.

The question remains, why had the army picked up Sangha village for teaching the villagers a lesson? It was, probably, due to the fact that the slain Chief General ‘Sukhwinder Singh Sangha of the BTKF belonged to this village and for raising a memorial to him in the village. It was also aimed at avenging the humiliation suffered at a nearby Rataul village on May 9 by the security forces because it was the BTKF which had given a fierce fight to the army and its outfits there.

Rataul encounter, the real encounter

In the Rataul encounter about half a dozen Sikh militants fought a battle with hundreds of Indian armed forces for two days before being killed. The security forces suffered a major set-back when the (Border Range) Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Ajit Singh was killed and the Tarn Taran SSP Narinder Pal Singh was injured in the encounter. The other injured included DSP Sukhdev Singh Bhatti, SHO of Verowal police station, Surinderpal Singh, three constables of Punjab police, two jawans of CRPF and two army men. The death toll of the security personnel, besides the DIG, included constable Tejinder Singh, constable Arjinder Singh and Amrik Singh.

From the militants side causalities included seven killed. They were all activists of the Bhindrawale Tigers of Khalistan Force (BTKF) namely Devinder Singh alias Harjinder Singh Pahalvan (Lt Gen), Lakhwinder Singh Lakha (Maj Gen), Jagtar Singh Bhorsi, Lakhwinder Singh Mughalchak, Kala Singh Walipur, Pahalwan’s uncle “Chacha Fauji” and Shinder Singh Jammu.

The eighth killed by the security forces was Mazhbi Hazara Singh (about 80), a handicapped old man who had nothing to do with militancy.

The Indian army first denied its involvement in the encounter and falsely claimed before the media that its men had not suffered any causality. Nearly 1000 Indian army men participated in the battle and Major General Sharada inspected the spot after it was all over. | Baba Manochahal was police’s target

On a definite information from intelligence agencies that a top militant leader Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal was to hold a meeting in connection with the proposed elections, the security forces raided the Rataul village in the early hours of May 7. During the searches, the militants engaged the security personnel in an exchange of fire which turned into a pitched gun battle. The security forces used light machine guns, RPG-7 type rockets, tear gas shells, hand grenades and two-inch mortars to neutralize the militants firing intermittently from general purpose machine guns (GPMGs), who had positioned themselves atop several buildings.  

This large and historic village, according to the police, was a known hideout of Baba Manochahal, who had slipped many a time from the security forces’ dragnet. In 1988 his brother Mohinder Singh Manochahal had been killed in this village. But, according to an observer close to militants, the police came to know’ of the Baba’s hideout in the wake of his involvement in the electoral politics and his frequent consultations with leaders of AISSF, his meetings with ticket seekers was an open secret. DIG killed, SSP, DSP & SHO injured in the encounter

According to Amritsar Police Chief, Sanjiv Gupta, Police commandos tried to capture some of the houses on the periphery of the village and in the process DSP Sukhdev Singh Bhatti was injured and constable Amrik Singh died on the spot on May 7.

The DIG Ajit Singh was fired at in the morning of May 8 when he virtually charged into the militants’ hideout in a narrow lane.. He was rushing to a spot in the village on getting information that Tarn Taran police chief Narinderpal Singh was injured in the cross fire.

 On finding the security forces leading towards their hideout, the militants fired several bursts from automatic weapons giving hardly any time to the DIG and the security men to react and take positions. Ajit Singh got a close range burst of sniper rifle in his chest and fell down. SSP Narinderpal Singh had been injured as one of the bullets fired by the militants hit him in the leg, and four other security personnel sustained injures. During search operations, the militants injured DSP Sukhdev Singh Bhatti. His gunman was also killed. .

When the two officers were shot at, another police party headed by SHO Verowal, tried to capture a building close to the hideout. He was also injured along with four other security men. In order to continue the pressure on the militants the DIG, CRPF, Dhanpat Yadav, took over the command of the operation at noon on May 8.

“The militants dominated the forces for 36 hours”

The para-military forces too could not do much to neutralize the militants. The militants dominated the security forces for the first 36 hours of the gun battle, according to eye witnesses. The final assault was started in the evening of May 8 by the army, commanded by three Brigadiers. The real offensive was launched after dusk when grenades rained on the buildings occupied by the militants. The upper storey rooms of two houses were blasted. The roofs of another three houses were blown up resulting in a fire. Besides this, there was firing from medium machine guns, LMGs and sniper rifles from different locations.

The militants made desperate bids to abandon the blasted hideouts and four of them were gunned down when they tried to shift to the adjoining houses. Others, who could not leave their hideout, were burnt alive. Para bombs were used to light up the cordoned area So as to make difficult any escape attempt by the militants.

The 48-hour-long operation was called off in the morning of May 9 following the recovery of bodies of militants and a large quantity of arms and ammunition. A thorough search was launched in the entire village. The weapons recovered included six AK-47 rifles, one SLR, one GPMG, one .303 rifle, two pistols, 3 rocket launcher and a sniper rifle.

A PHRO team comprising D. S. Gill and Mohinder Singh Grewal visited the Rataul village. The shouldering and half burnt household articles lay scattered. A double-storey ed building where maximum fortification was done belonged to Thekedar Kartar Singh, who was not at home.

The PHRO team met Kartar Singh’s college going son Sukhwinder Singh (18) who was residing in the house along with his mother. The team also talked to several villagers who were victims and eye witnesses to the whole incident. Even the cattle were shot

According to the villagers, domestic articles were wantonly destroyed and valuables looted and even cattle shot. The army behaved like occupied force, looting gold ornaments and money. The entire population of the village was evacuated. Men were kept in the school. Women and children were lodged in the gurdwara. The security forces were free to ransack the vacant houses from May 7 to May 9.

The security forces, the villagers alleged, took away Sarwan Singh’s Rs. 8000/-, Sarpanch Umrao Singh’s two gold tings, mason Harbans Singh’s Rs. 4000/-, Mukhtiar Singh’s Rs. 800 and Vaid Surjan Singh’s utensils from their houses.

The men, women and children remained in confinement for three days without proper food and water. The security personnel used abusive language while dealing with women and children. Some of the men were beaten up. Those tortured included Vaid Surjan Singh (65), Thekedar Kartar Singh and army personnel on leave, Amarjit Singh and the people.

No doubt, there have been militant-police encounters. But in most real encounters, the causalities suffered were by both the parties. The Rataul encounter is an eye-opener. In all other cases the deaths were either in police custody or in staged encounters.

The elections and the repression

The police raj continued unabated despite the declaration of elections to the Parliament and Punjab Assembly in the state. Among many, Khalistan Commando Force (Zaffarwal) Area Commander Baghel Singh Abbuwal’s family and next of kin have been victims of Ludhiana police atrocities. It was on May 2 that a Ludhiana Police party raided the KCF activist’s Abbuwal’s village at mid-night and picked up his 85-year-old crippled grand father Nambardar (village land revenue official) Ramparted Singh, uncles Gurmail Singh and Ujaggar Singh and his cousin Bant Kaur (22).

Before leaving the house, the police Posse demolished all household goods including doors, windows, almirahs and ceiling fans. Not even a tumbler to drink water was spared. Cattle were untethered from the family’s farm house leaving them to no one’s care. Villagers were threatened not to touch bundles of harvested wheat crop lying in the fields of Abbuwal. Dire consequences would follow, added the police, in case the villagers cultivated the family’s lands.

The two member PHRO team comprising Mohinder Singh Grewal and Mukesh Inder Singh Dhillon was required to go into the details of the agony of the family. The team visited the village and met several persons including an advocate Rajwant Singh and a local Sikh preacher Sohan Singh whose brother Gurdev Singh was also picked up along with an other on that night.

According to PHRO investigation, other relatives of Abbuwal’s were also rounded up by the police from about half a-dozen villages. They included his sister’s father-in-law Balwant Singh from Kailey village, father’s sister’s husband Harnek Singh from Rajouni village, mother’s brother’s son Mohinder Singh from Khrar-Chhapa village (Sangrur district), mother’s sister’s husband Gurcharan Singh from Hassan pur village and father’s mother’s grandsons Mohan Singh and Sohan Singh from Bullowal village.

Ever since Balwinder Singh alias Baghel Singh Abbuwal’s went underground in 1990 the police had been conducting raids and searches of his house. His father Karnail Singh and elder brother Bhagwant Singh along with others were picked up by the police a number of times. Abbuwal’s uncle Mohinder Singh, who was rounded up by Sudhar police on March ‘16, still remained incommunicado.

Militants relations held

Abbuwal’s father, brothers and their wives had already left the place due to frequent police raids, searches and harassment.

It seemed a retaliatory action by the police as they suspected the KCF (Zaffarwal) hand, in the kidnapping of late DIG Ajit Singh’s brother Pritam Singh from Ludhiana on April 29, 1991.

The PHRO investigation team, in its report, condemned the retaliatory attitude of the police against the innocent relatives of the underground youth and demanded their immediate release, action against the guilty police officialss