A team appointed by the Punjab Women’s Forum has documented evidence of police terrorism directed against women in some villages of districts of Ludhiana and Batala. These cases provide glaring evidence of the continuing terrorism all over Punjab. Our pen cannot adequately convey to you the pain of these women. Their suffering cannot be easily felt or shared. These cases are living testimony to the suffering of the Sikh women.
Background
Since 1984 when Punjab came under the heel of Punjab police and many armed gangs, untold numbers of innocents have languished in jails, countless number of young men have been killed by police in fake encounters and many others continue to be brutalized in new detention centres.
Because of their political and religious views, some women too were caught in this web of violence but they were few. Instances include the repeated arrest of Bimal Kaur Khalsa (widow of Bhai Beant Singh); the arrest of the women singers (chorale) from Nabha, the arrest and continued detention in Jodhpur of many women arrested at the Golden Temple, Amritsar in June 1984 in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star; raids at the houses of the young people, the abusive interrogation of women; the arrest of the parents of the Panthic Committee member Wassan Singh Zaffarwal; the killing of a pregnant woman by the Border Security Police in district Gurdaspur, etc.
One heart rendering incident occurred as follows: In searching for young men, 50 to 60 police surrounded a barn and without warning started firing. It was just past 7 p.m. when bullets started smashing windows. The women inside were petrified. Taking stock of the situation, some older women hid the children in closets. In spite of widespread firing all around her, the oldest lady in the house decided to come out of the house. She said, “I have lived my life and cannot now see children massacred in front of my eyes!” She came out and from behind a pillar shouted: “Stop firing -you can come in and search the house. There is nothing to hide.” The policemen, drunk in liquor, however kept on firing. After 10 to 15 minutes an officer gave the command to cease firing. During the search, no male was found. The men in the family were in the city that day; 13 women and children were found. The police were abusive. In the winter’s cold, children and women including the mother of a two week old baby were forced out of the house. Not even blankets were allowed to them.
In December 1986, for the first time, armed units molested and raped women in village Brahampura, near Tarn Taran in district Amritsar. When Avtar Singh Brahampura escaped the cordon of police, the police retaliated by venting their anger on innocent people, by beating them up and by raping and molesting five women. One of those young women spent the night without clothes, hiding behind some bushes. This angered the people so much that the government had to transfer the responsible battalion of Central Reserve Police Force out of that area but the people’s demand for justice and trial of those responsible was never accepted.
From mid-1987, atrocities on women by the police and armed gangs have crossed all limits of civilized behavior., Incidents of violence are not part of any particular search operation for wanted people, raids or interrogation but occur because the Central government has granted unlimited powers to armed units so that they can suppress the voice of revolution in Punjab. The police and the security forces have started these atrocities on women for they have been unable to bring to submission the young people of Punjab by resorting to unlawful arrests, torture in special prisons and even killings in so called encounters. This is a direct challenge to the self-respect and dignity of the people of Punjab.
In order to collect facts, a three member committee of the Punjab Nari Manch(Women’’s Forum) consisting of Dr. Jiwan Jot Kaur(Vice President of the P.H.R.O); Miss Kamal Sandhu and Sri Ganpat, Advocate toured some villages of Batala and Ludhiana districts.
Some incidents of Batala District
Batala subdivision lies in Gurdaspur district but has been made a special police district and the police have been granted special powers. This district has been subjected to maximum police brutality. Law of the jungle prevails in this area, the domain of Senior Superintendent Govind Ram. In addition, because of their special powers, the men of BSF and CRPF terrorize everybody. There is hardly a village among the 40 to 50 villages surrounding the Hargobind Pur police precinct where the people have not been suppressed at the hands of the police. This investigation team found the following instances of police brutality of women.
Ajit Singh Shah and his family live on a farm on the outskirts of village Padha, Police post Hargobindpur. One night, some armed young men came to the farm and at the point of a gun, demanded and received food and shelter for one night.
In the morning, leaving a man behind they took a sick associate into town. The police raided the house at dawn and arrested the one man who had been left behind. For the next one and a half hours he was brutally interrogated and finally shot dead. The whole family was taken out of the house, kicked and beaten with gun butts.
Bibi Sukhvinder Kaur, wife of Balwant Singh (son of Ajit Singh Shah) told us: “We were beaten by the police and the BSF. I was hit with boots and stepped on. They used vulgar abusive language and demanded to know why we had provided food for the young, rebels. We replied that we had to, for they had guns. The police accused us of sleeping with the rebels. What are we to do? Don’t we have any self-respect or dignity. Can they say what they like? When the rebels come with guns what are we to do? Our licensed and registered weapons have already been confiscated by the Government. This happened in December 1988. Those days were very cold. The police forced the men out of the house and made them remove their clothes, we were then forced to sit with them. You know, | normally keep my head averted from my father-in-law. I was feeling very embarrassed but was helpless. After about 2 hours the men were allowed to put on clothes. Then they took my father-in-law, my husband, our guest and myself to the police station. | was kept there for 5 days. There was no woman cop either at the time of the arrest or at the station.”
Daljit Kaur, daughter of Shiv Singh of village Nadha was told by the police that she was summoned by her aunt. When the family members refused to send this Sikh girl alone, the police dragged her away. The mother, Piar Kaur went along with her. Both were kept at the police station overnight. Members of this family are still in jail; the remaining women ot the family live out on the farm passing their days in fear. She also told us that the police had looted their house.
The same day, another incident occurred in Padha village. On hearing gunfire, the village headman, Sohan Singh, a retired army man, asked the watchman to summon members of the village council. He stated: “Only four rounds had been fired. We were in the village when the Senior Superintendent of Police came with his Force and started abusing us. He was angry that we had not gone to receive some dignitary who was visiting. He then started beating us and using profane language.” Sohan Singh interceded, saying: “Please stop. You have beaten us enough. Do not abuse us further.” This further infuriated the SSP. We were all humiliated by having to rub our noses on the ground a hundred times each. We were then taken to the Gurdwara and forced to deliver speeches abusive of the rebels. The village council members are old yet they were dragged to the police station and locked in a cell overnight with about 90 inmates. There was not enough room to sit and they had to stand all night. They were released 24 hours later.
Whether these events occurred in the house of Ajit Singh Shah or with the council members, they occurred in presence of, and under the direct orders of, Senior Superintendent of police Govind Ram.
Village Ballewal
The investigation team met Manjit Kaur (wife) and Prakash Kaur (mother) of Nirvar Singh Ballewal, a minister at a Gurdwara Shaheedan, Amritsar. Nirvar Singh was shot dead by police on the steps of the temple and removed in a jeep. Manjit Kaur ran after the police. They beat her with rifle butts. People rescued her. On 24 September 1987, it was learned that an extremist had been killed. Some people claimed the dead body of Nirvar Singh from the police and returned it to the family. His younger brother, Kulwant Singh had joined the rebels. The police raided his house a number of times looking for Kulwant. His mother Prakash Kaur had been taken to the police station for interrogation about 15 times.
During one of the raids, another younger brother, Dilbagh Singh, a minister at Baba Bakala Gurdwara, hid behind the house. The police shot Dilbagh in the back and killed him. The team saw bullet marks on a wall of the house. Manjit Kaur was badly beaten and dragged by the hair to a wheat field. After about an hour and a half of torture, she fainted and was thrown over the body of Dilbagh Singh with a taunt: “Now get your Khalistan.” Her hands and feet were so badly swollen that she could not get out of bed for several days and she was bleeding from her scalp. This occurred on May 2nd, 1988. Dharam Singh, the village head, lives near Nirvar Singh. He and his family are eyewitnesses to this account. When he arrived at the scene he was beaten by the police and warmed not to pursue this matter.
Pritam Singh is a school teacher at Ballewal. He and his wife Shavinder Kaur have two grown-up sons. Even this family could not escape the h’s only fault was that he was the uncle of Dilbagh Nirvar and Kulwant. Shavinder Kaur had been taken to the police station three times and was detained there for three nights once and two nights the other times. Their son, Harjit Singh, was in custody for ten Gays without being charged He was beaten and was asked to give information about Kulwant Singh. Now Kulvt has been arrested yet this family has not been let alone. Now the demand is to give information about Balvinder Singh, from a neighboring village the elderly mother and Balvinder Singh, from a Shavinder Kaur told us that “the police humiliate us during their raids. They use profanity that we are too embarrassed to report to you. We were arrested by male police and there were no female police even at the police station. We are so scared that we are frightened of any unusual sounds.”
Swaran Kaur, the unmarried daughter of Assa Singh of village Ballewal, was kept in custody at the Dayanand Anglo Vedic School, Kadian by the BSF.
She was arrested allegedly for harbouring extremists but was never charged. Assa Singh is a minister at the Gurdwara at Shahpur. He admitted that some months earlier at a sermon he had recommended that people should abstain from alcohol and should not have marriage parties of more than 10 people. The village council was summoned by the police and offered weapons to defend the village. When they expressed their inability to do so, the council members were arrested and kept in jail overnight. This occurred on January 16-17, 1989.
Village Sarchur
On January 10th Govind Ram accompanied by several policemen and BSF troops raided Sarchur. This village of 4,000 people is about 18 kilometers from Batala. The people of Sarchur and neighboring villages Kotlik Bhangali Nasirke, Peherowal etc.. were assembled at the focal point of Sarchur. They were abused verbally and accused of sheltering extremists and offering their daughters to them. The young men were forced to lie prone on the ground and were beaten with sticks, belts and gun butts until their skins peeled. This was done for one hour. People were screaming but Govind Ram was not satisfied. He ordered people to repeat slogans after him berating a woman of the village, Surjit Kaur and her two daughters, Manjit Kaur(15 years) and Rajinder Kaur(10 years). Surjit Kaur is an Akali leader of the village and has been imprisoned for 5 months. A retired army officer, Charan Singh, could no longer tolerate this and refused to join in the slogans. He was seized, put in a truck, taken to the police station and kept at Fatehgarh Churian Police Station for three days. Govind Ram taunted that when Surjit Kaur comes out of jail he would see to it that she is paraded without clothes through the village. Before returning, he threatened the women with dire consequences if they protested against his behaviour. Some families then sent their daughters to relatives far away. Earlier Surjit Kaur was badly beaten by the police. Both her daughters had been taken to the police station as well.
Mari Buchian
When the Sikh Students Federation took control of the Gurdwaras, the management of Gurdwara Damdama Sahib, Hargobindpur became a matter of dispute. Therefore the village council requested the Shromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) to assume the management. The committee pleaded its inability to do so, and unanimously assigned this responsibility to Bhagwant Singh of Damdami Taksaal. Everybody vouched for this man’s integrity.
Ajit Singh Poohla of that area, is in league with the police. He maintains 40 to 50 armed guards. On January 18, 1989 at about 6 p.m. Ajit and his guards attacked Bhagwant’s home. He claimed that he wanted to search the place. Bhagwant was not at home; his wife was visiting her parents with the children. After the search, they started dragging his brother Harpal Singh, a Science teacher at Ghuman, who lives with them. Harpal Singh resisted and hung onto the window grill. At that time he was carrying his two year old son in his arms. They grabbed the child and threw him away. In this tussle, Harpal’s hands were badly injured; signs of the injury were seen by the team. His wife Maninderjit Kaur and mother Gurbachan Kaur pleaded with them but were also kicked and accused of harbouring extremists. The houses were looted. The team noted that the police had supported groups of raiders like these who commit acts of vandalism. This was confirmed by the lawyers at Batala. Once such people were caught in two scooter stealing incidents and the arms found on them, had been registered with the police. Some knowledgeable people who wish to remain anonymous and also some lawyers claim that crimes in this area are being committed by police supported gangs.
In village Cheema, police post Hargobindpur, a young man named Jugraj Singh had joined the rebels several years earlier and is now known as Tufaan Singh. He is the only brother of five sisters. Two or three times, police had brought his sisters to the police station and the village council had got them released. Now the police badly mistreated the sisters and their mother. Finally tiring of this, the family left the village. All this happened after Govind Ram took charge of the police in this area.
In Sundwa village (police post Hargobindpur) the wife and daughter-in-law of Dalip Singh have been accused of sheltering extremists.
In village Tapiala, Hargobindpur police post, Gurmej Kaur, wife of Bhagwan Singh was badly beaten. Their house was destroyed and set on fire. Their son was killed. They were accused of harbouring extremists.
Nirmal Kaur of village Sundwa, police post Hargobindpur was accused of sheltering extremists.
Women and children were assembled at the focal point of Nassarpura and badly beaten. ,
Women were beaten at Kadian village. Some had their wrists broken. When the village council went to the police station to demonstrate, they were treated very badly.
The village council of Buttar went also to complain about police harassment and misuse of power. In turn, they were badly treated and beaten up. Many more cases from the neighboring areas had come to the attention of the team but could not be pursued because of lack of time.
The team felt that women hesitated to tell them about their mistreatment because of social and familial considerations. The team also noted the mistreatment by the police of the village councilmen whereas according to law, every time that the police goes into a village it should consult with the council. Such consultation never occurred and when the council members went to the police station to protest against the mistreatment of women they were themselves beaten, abused and treated as traitors. For this reason 21 councils submitted their resignations to the Deputy Commissioner of district Gurdaspur.
At Talwandi Lal Singh village, Gian Singh was arrested. His wife Prakash Kaur was forced to lie on the ground and policemen stood on wooden planks on her thighs. She was screaming and another policeman stood on the chest of her ten year old son. Afterwards the police took her away and at 10 p.m. in the midwinter she was dropped off on a bridge leading to the village. This was stated by Gurdial Singh of that village, in the presence of Deputy Commissioner, Dalsair Singh Kalla and Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kulwant Singh and was reported in the Tribune on January 3, 1989.
The village head of Harbhajan told a gathering at Harcharanpur village that a child returning from school, was taken away by the BSF and released only after 14 days of torture. Gurdev Singh, 44 years old, also of this village was killed in fake encounter by the police. This was reported by the Tribune on January 3, 1989.
A conference on people’s power was organized at village Sunderpura in Batala police district which was addressed by the Punjab Governor S.S. Ray who asked for the people’s co-operation. The people related their stories of police excesses to the Governor. Ray appeared shocked and ordered an inquiry into the incidents at Mari Buchian. The Governor admitted that the cases of two women had been handled by policemen and not policewomen. The truth is that there are many more incidents like this. From every village the women have been taken to police stations where there are no women constables.
Ambo, the mother of Jagdish, village Shankarpur; Prakash Kaur wife of Gian Singh village Rakhia; Kulwant Kaur mother of Balvinder Singh, village of Shakarpur related many incidents of police atrocities at the conference on people’s power. After the incident at village Padha, a police force of 11 jeeps under the command of Govind Ram raided the house of Sital Singh which is on the outskirts of village Mattewal and brutalized his wife and sister- in-law. Two years earlier also a police officer had pushed the wife against a wall so that her skull was fractured.
In December 1988, about 200 police and BSF troops raided the house of the head of village Ghogey. His servant and wife were badly beaten. When the head of the village Kotla went to protest police atrocities, his wife was beaten.
An elderly woman of village Kastiwal told us that her son is so scared of the police that he has not returned home in 4 years. The police has arrested him several times and has also looted the house.
Events of Ludhiana Districts
Arvinder Kaur Khalsa, unmarried daughter of Ranjit Singh of village Kila Raipur was arrested on July 9, 1987. She was released and re-arrested on September 7, 1987 under the National Security Act. |The courts ordered her release but she was arrested for the third time when somebody shot a man named Jagvinder Singh. For three to four days she was tortured at the police station Dehlon. On July 10 a case was registered against her of harbouring extremists. The case has now been dismissed by the special court.
Kuldip Kaur, widow of Darshan Singh, village Chomon, was arrested by the police and tortured for 15 days. She was paraded around naked for 5 days in Ahmedgarh Police Station. On October 21, 1988 she was charged with harbouring extremists and possessing stolen property. At present her case is in the court of Magistrate Mr Katari in which the widow has complained of being dishonoured by the police.
Nachattar Kaur, wife of Charan Singh, village Chak Sarawa Nath, was arrested from her home and detained at the police station for 3 to 4 days. She was subjected to abusive language and mistreated. Case no:159 was registered against her on December 15, 1988 for her activities under the Anti- Terrorist Act.
Gurmel Kaur, wife of Ajit Singh and Jarnail Kaur wife of Harbans Singh both of village Chhandran, police post Sahnewal, were arrested along with Nachattar Kaur.
Jaswant Kaur wife of Avtar Singh, village Kila Ajnaud police post Khanna had gone to attend a funeral bhog. The police took her to the police station, tortured her for one day and booked her under the Anti-Terrorist Act and for speaking against the Government. After she was bailed out she told the people about atrocities against her and others. She was then re-arrested on February 14, 1989 and badly tortured on February 19 and remanded to prison on February 21.
Prof. Rajinderpal Singh Gill of the Punjab Agricultural University was killed by the police in a fake encounter. His wife Rajinder Kaur Gill M.A. was arrested by the focal point police of Ludhiana on December 12, 1988 and tortured under the instructions of the inspector. A case for harbouring terrorists was registered against her on December 13 1988.
Krishna wife of Hardev Singh of village Ghabbadi is mother of five daughters and as on. A head constable has repeatedly threatened to kill her son. Two of her daughters were arrested (one a BA student) and dishonoured at the Sadar police station by the head constable Darshan Singh and others.
Case no:370 was registered against them on December 15. 1988. Krishna’s husband was also arrested but is now on bail.
Charanjit Singh Channi son of Master Devraj Singh Talwandi Ex-MLA, has joined the rebels and the police has been looking for him. His wife Harbans Kaur and sister-in-law Jasvir Kaur were arrested and warned that Harban Kaur’s two young children 2.5 and 4.5 years old, would be tortured.
The unmarried sister of Channi was also taken to Raikot police station, insulted and warned that her family would be eliminated. However, some influential people were able to get her released. (Channi was killed in a fake encounter by the Ropar Police in June 1989)
Jaswant Kaur’s daughter Manjit Kaur, of Jagroan village, was arrested along with her children. The police took her to a secret hiding place and her parents had no idea where she was for many days. Manjit’s mother has also been arrested several times.
This chronicle of police atrocities is hardly complete. It is impossible to survey all the villages of Punjab. People are afraid even to speak.
When an old man was asked why he doesn’t report this behaviour of the police, he answered that lives have been lost and if he reports on them, they will kill us and blame the extremists for the deaths.
Now another phenomenon has come to our attention. That is the work of armed gangs under the direction of the police. Many incidents of this nature have come to our attention but are beyond the scope of this report.
The excesses of the police are common place; these practices can be traced back to the top brass of the police and Central government in Delhi. The judgment of who is an extremist is in the hands of the police and not the courts.
We feel the extent of repression has crossed all limits of civilized behavior in Punjab. Although we have covered only two areas, of which Batala area is the worst affected, it forms only the tip of the ice-berg of what is happening all over Punjab.
