Family

Jaswant Singh Khalra's grandfather Harnam Singh was an activist in the Ghadar

Ghadar Conspiracy

The Ghadar Conspiracy was a conspiracy for a pan-Indian mutiny in the British Indian Army in February 1915 formulated by the Ghadar Party...

 movement for the independence of India.

Activism

Jaswant Singh Khalra was a bank director in the city of Amritsar

Amritsar

Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...

 in Punjab

Punjab (India)

Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...

 during the militancy. Following Operation Blue Star

Operation Blue Star

Operation Blue Star ) 3– 6 June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar...

, the assassination of Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...

, and the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots

1984 anti-Sikh riots

The 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...

, police were empowered to detain suspects for any reason, ostensibly as suspected terrorists

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

. Police were accused of killing unarmed suspects in staged shootouts and burning thousands of dead bodies to cover up the murders.

While searching for some colleagues who went missing, Jaswant Singh Khalra discovered files from the municipal corporation of the city of Amritsar

Amritsar

Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...

 which contained the names, age, address of those who had been killed and later burned by the Police. Further research revealed other cases in 3 other districts in Punjab, increasing the list by thousands.

The National Human Rights Commission released a list of some of the identified bodies that cremated in the police districts of Amritsar, Majitha and Tarn Taran between June 1984 to December 1994. That list can be viewed here.

Murder and Coverup

In 1995, while washing his car in front of his house, Khalra was abducted by under-cover commandos of Punjab Police

Punjab Police

Punjab Police may refer to:* Punjab Police , which operates in the Indian state of Punjab* Punjab Police , which operates in the Pakistani province of Punjab...

 at behest of Senior Superintendent of Police Ajit Singh Sandhu and taken to Jhabal police station. Although witnesses gave statements implicating the police and have named former police chief

Chief of police

A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...

 Kanwar Pal Singh Gill

Kanwar Pal Singh Gill

Kanwar Pal Singh Gill served twice as Director General of Police Punjab, where he is credited with having brought the Punjab insurgency under control, and while the BBC reports that many see Gill as a hero, there are accusations that Gill and the forces under his command were responsible for...

 as a conspirator, police denied having ever arrested or detained him, and claimed to have no knowledge of his whereabouts.

In 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation

Central Bureau of Investigation

The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...

 found evidence that he was held at a police station in Tarn Taran

Tarn Taran

Tarn Taran may refer to:*Tarn Taran Sahib, a city in Tarn Taran district, Punjab, India*Tarn Taran district, a district in Punjab, India*Tarn Taran...

 and recommended the prosecution of nine Punjab police

Punjab police

The Punjab Police is responsible for policing in the state of Punjab, India. Its present Director General is a J&K cadre IPS officer Mr. PS Gill...

 officials for murder and kidnapping. Those accused of his murder were not charged for ten years, though one of the suspects committed suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 in 1997. On November 18, 2005, six Punjab police officials were convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for Khalra’s abduction and murder. On October 16, 2007 a division bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Punjab and Haryana High Court is a common High Court for both the States of Punjab and Haryana and Union territory of Chandigarh, in India. It is situated at Chandigarh, the capital of the States of Punjab and Haryana. The sanctioned strenghth of this High Court is 68 judges consisting of Chief...

, chaired by Justices Mehtab Singh Gill and A N Jindal, extended the sentence to Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...

for four accused Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, Jasbir Singh (all former Sub Inspectors) and Prithipal Singh (former Head Constable).

External links

• Video speech of Jaswant Singh Khalra
• Detailed biography of Jaswant Singh Khalra (PDF) from Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab, Final Report: Volume One by Ram Narayan Kumar et al.
• Khalra Advocacy Page