Ahead of Harike gathering, Parmjit Kaur Khalra calls for independent probe into Punjab's fake encounters, disappearances
PTC Web Desk: Ahead of a major gathering called by the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib at Harike Pattan on July 14, the wife of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra has put forward a demand.
Parmjit Kaur Khalra has urged Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj to push for the formation of an independent "People's Commission", a body that would work to establish the real scale of forced disappearances, unidentified bodies and alleged fake police encounters from Punjab's troubled decades of the 1980s and 90s.
In a post shared on X, she urged the Jathedar to take the lead in uncovering the truth behind the human rights violations of that era. Referring to the 1984 military assault on Darbar Sahib, the Sikh massacre that followed in November of the same year, and the years of unrest afterward, she said thousands of families of victims , those who lost loved ones to torture, staged encounters, or simply vanished without a trace, are still waiting for justice.
Paramjit Kaur Khalra did not spare any political outfit in her remarks. She squarely blamed the Congress government of the time for the atrocities committed during that period.
She criticised the current Aam Aadmi Party government as well, saying it too has failed to secure convictions against police personnel implicated in rights violations. The BJP-led central government did not escape scrutiny either. She raised questions about the alleged targeted killings of Sikhs abroad.
Among the demands she placed before Sri Akal Takht Sahib, she called for a commission to establish the actual number of victims from the 80s and 90s. She also asked that photographs of the unidentified martyrs identified through Jaswant Singh Khalra's own painstaking work be displayed at the Central Sikh Museum in Amritsar. She appealed to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to extend financial support to the families of victims.
Speaking in clear terms, Parmjit Kaur Khalra said no political party or individual should be placed above accountability. She appealed that the pain of the victims and what she referred to as the "third ghallughara" should not be exploited for political gain, insisting instead that the entire system be brought before the public for scrutiny to ensure real justice is delivered.
- PTC NEWS
