Delivering the key-note address Paramjeet Kaur Khalra, widow of advocate Jaswant Singh Khalra-a victim of Punjab police extra-judicial killing- argued that the human rights movement of Punjab was projected in a biased manner by the government. Jaswant Singh Khalra was abducted in September 1995 by the Punjab Police, held in custody for 40 days and then murdered.
NEW DELHI – The Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) and the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) announced the inauguration of the Khalra Centre for Human Rights Defenders in New Delhi during a conference held in collaboration with other human rights groups from across India on November 19th and 20th.
Various speakers at the event emphasized the need for a stronger and effective national network to pursue the movement for defending legal human rights.
Not putting much faith on the judiciary of India, most of the speakers argue that a systematic attack has been perpetuated by the authority and the situation is turning bad to worst. They have also insisted that National Human Rights Commission (of India) should be empowered to take timely actions to upheld the rights of the citizens of the country.
Some speakers also advocated for enlightening the Press Council of India to properly monitor the activities of a section of newspapers that manufacture news with distorted facts.
Prominent Indian human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen expressed concern that human rights situation in India is deteriorating in the recent past. Dr Sen, who was jailed for many months following accusation of being an anti-national, admits that Indian judiciary system has delivered amidst high expectations. The veteran social activist pointed out that a tendency has been grown by the authority and governments in India to term the human right activists as anti-national. So many of them are arbitrarily subjected to threat, harassment, jailing and even killing, Dr Sen added.
Delivering the key-note address Paramjeet Kaur Khalra, widow of advocate Jaswant Singh Khalra-a victim of Punjab police extra-judicial killing- argued that the human rights movement of Punjab was projected in a biased manner by the government. Later it was added with a religious twist. The movement in early Ninety in Punjab has snatched away the live of at least 25,000 youths.
The government initially tried to hide the information but advocate Khalra disclosed the facts to the media. Paramjeet Kaur Khalra also mentioned the name of KPS Gil, former Punjab police chief who is also known as the Butcher of Punjab, who masterminded the extra judicial killings. She expressed shock that Gill was later awarded by the government.
Khalra exposed the disappearance and illegal cremations of thousands of Sikhs by the Punjab Police and made his findings public in Canada in 1995 during a visit organized by WSO. Upon his return to India in September 1995, Jaswant Singh Khalra was himself abducted by the Punjab Police, held in custody for 40 days and then murdered.
The conference focused on current challenges faced by human rights activists in India in states such as Assam, Kashmir, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and was attended by Dr. Binayak Sen, Kavita Srivastav, Himanshu Kumar, Henry Tiphagne, Iftikhar Gilani, Prashant Bhushan, Teesta Setalvad, Mallika Sarabai, Sanjiv Bhatt, Advocate H.S. Phoolka, RS Bains, Navkiran Singh and many other human rights defenders.
WSO’s legal counsel Balpreet Singh addressed the gathering and expressed solidarity with Indian human rights defenders. He said that because the abuses which took place in Punjab such as torture and disappearances were not addressed, the same pattern has perpetuated itself in other areas such as Kashmir and Nagaland and impunity has become systemic there.
During the conference, various speakers highlighted the similarities between the different conflicts in India and the need to learn from their shared experiences.
At the conclusion of the conference, HRLN founder Colin Gonsalves and Paramjeet Kaur Khalra announced the foundation of the Khalra Centre for Human Rights Defenders which will be based out of New Delhi. The Centre has been established to serve as a legal resource for human rights defenders who find themselves in danger or who are attacked and also to undertake research into human rights issues. The foundation of the Centre was welcomed by the human rights defenders present and all attendees rose to pay their respects to the memory of S. Khalra.
WSO President Prem Singh Vinning said, “Jaswant Singh Khalra gave up his life in order to draw attention to the abuses being committed in Punjab and his example continues to inspire us and countless others. The Khalra Centre for Human Rights defenders is the most appropriate memorial to the memory of Jaswant Singh Khalra and is a reflection of our support of the important work being done by human rights defenders across India.”
