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 September and October 2008 commemorate the 13th anniversary of the disappearance and illegal detention, torture, and murder of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra. Khalra's family marked this anniversary with a prayer at the Akal Takht.
Punjab Police abducted Jaswant Singh Khalra on September 6, 1995, illegally detained and tortured him, and murdered him in late October 1995. Jaswant Singh Khalra and Jaspal Singh Dhillon's investigations into mass secret cremations provided official proof of thousands of disappearances ending in secret cremations from 1984 to 1994. Official municipal cremation ground records and firewood purchase registers disclosed information such as the date and place of cremation of the victims, the number of bodies cremated, the police stations and officials who deposited the bodies for cremations, and, in some cases, the identity of the secret cremation victims. In Khalra's last recorded speech given in Canada in April 1995, just months before his ultimate disappearance, he discussed over 6,000 cremations in Amritsar district alone.
Khalra's courageous work and sacrifice has inspired thousands of people around the world, and the reality of disappearances and extrajudicial executions in Punjab has become impossible to deny.
Khalra's disappearance and investigations catalyzed the Supreme Court to order the prosecution of his abductors and investigations into the mass secret cremations—both cases which continue today. In November 2005, ten years after the Supreme Court ordered the prosecution of Khalra's killers, the Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court in Patiala convicted six police officers for the abduction and murder of Khalra. Two years later, the High Court upheld and enhanced life sentences for five of the accused, and acquitted one official. Mrs. Khalra has appealed against the acquittal to the Supreme Court, and the five convicted officials have appealed against their convictions, as well. Ensaaf provided litigation support to lead attorney Rajvinder S. Bains.
| Since February 2008 alone, the High Court has postponed the Gill case over six times. |
Regrettably, the chief architect of Khalra's murder and the disappearances and cremations throughout Punjab, former police chief KPS Gill, has still not been held accountable for his crimes. Ensaaf worked closely with High Court attorney Rajvinder Bains to prepare the petition calling for the investigation and prosecution of Gill for his direct role in the abduction and murder of Khalra. Despite filing the case in September 2006, over two years ago, the High Court and government continue to delay arguments. Since February 2008 alone, the High Court has postponed the case over six times. The undue delay cannot cover up the fact that Gill personally interrogated Khalra days before his murder, and bears superior responsibility for his murder, where Gill knew of the crime and failed to prevent or punish his subordinates for their illegal acts.
Chief eyewitness to the crime, Special Police Officer (SPO) Kuldip Singh, also reports that government agents continue to harass and pressure him. Despite the intimidation, Kuldip Singh is ready to testify against Gill, and his testimony against Gill has been found credible and upheld by both the Sessions Court and the High Court.
October 2008 also celebrates the continued efforts of Mrs. Paramjit Kaur Khalra and other human rights defenders and organizations to investigate and expose the disappearances and extrajudicial executions, hold perpetrators accountable, and organize survivors to advocate for the rights to truth, justice, and reparations. Since Khalra's disappearance, thousands of cases of disappearances have been documented, hundreds of "unidentified" cremation victims have been identified, some officials have been accountable, and several ground-breaking reports have been released documenting these case—most recently, Protecting the Killers: a Policy of Impunity in, Punjab, India—and been distributed and covered around the world. Thirteen years later, Ensaaf continues to be inspired by Jaswant Singh Khalra's work and sacrifice and leads efforts to end impunity and achieve justice for gross human rights violations in Punjab.
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