Extra-Judicial Killing Case Reopened

On 30 Mar, in a 32-year-old case, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court sentenced recently retired former Superintendent of Police Amarjit Singh to ten years in jail and fined him $1,200 for the abduction of Balwinder Singh of village Jhabal, Tarn Taran. On 4 Oct 1992, Balwinder’s wife Rajwant Kaur and mother Gurbachan Kaur were picked up by a police party headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar and Station Head Officer police station Jhabhal, Amarjit Singh. Later in the day, Balwinder Singh was picked up. Gurbachan was released after four days. Rajwant was released after eight days. After fifteen days, the police disclosed that Balwinder had been taken to Ferozepur. That was the last anybody heard of him. Since the victim went missing, the family claimed that they have not even gotten the death certificate. The CBI chargesheet, under Sections 120-B and 364 of the Indian Penal Code, was filed on 16 Sep 1999 and charges were framed in 2000. The trial was delayed from 2002-2022 through petitions by the accused which were later dismissed. Ashok Kumar died during the trial and proceedings against him were stayed. Nine out of fifteen witnesses also died. Senior advocate Sarabjit Singh Verka had pursued the case. The case has also been referred to the District Legal Service Authority for compensation to the victim's family, including three children. This is one more instance of how the Panjab police has carried out extrajudicial killings and then hacked the system through petitions to avoid punishment (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 15, Story 4).

On 29 Mar, Tarsem Singh, Dera Kar Seva Pramukh (head of voluntary service organization), was fatally shot at Nanakmatta Gurdwara, Udham Singh Nagar. At approximately 6 am, two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle entered the Dera's open gates and opened fire at Tarsem Singh. The Nanakmatta Gurdwara is an important shrine and was once called Gorakhmata, a center of Siddh-Jogis (‘Proven’ Yoga Masters) named after their founder Gorakh Nath. This is where the founder of Sikh faith Guru Nanak had a long discourse with siddhas on matters of religion and metaphysics. The land for the Gurdwara was donated by Nawab Mehndi Ali Khan and voluntary service began in 1975. Since the 1980s, Tarsem Singh has been the head of voluntary services and allegedly a polarizing figure in society who is close to all political parties. In July 2021, Tarsem Singh invited the recently appointed Uttrakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami to the Gurdwara. During Dhami’s visit, young girls performed a dance program, the recitation of sacred hymns was repeatedly interrupted, the guest was adorned with a silver crown, and pro-BJP slogans were raised. This led to the managing committee of the Gurdwara being asked to resign, citing blasphemy to the Sikh Rehat Maryada (code of conduct). The SGPC inquired into the events and the Akal Takht awarded religious punishment to Tarsem Singh and three committee members. The Uttarakhand govt. has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to pursue the matter. As per the 2011 Census, Sikhs form 2.34% of the state’s population; they are close to 10% in Udham Singh Nagar district which borders Uttar Pradesh.

India said the intelligence operatives who planned the 2023 assassination of Sikhs For Justice legal counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had gone ‘rogue’ (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 13, Story 1). US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti reprimanded India, stating, ‘Any country, having an active member of their government involved in a second country trying to assassinate one of their citizens. That's, I think, usually a red line for any country. That's a basic issue of sovereignty. That's a basic issue of rights.’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian also said, ‘China noted the reports. We hope relevant countries will earnestly observe international law and the basic norms governing international relations.’ India dismissed China’s remarks as ‘speculative comments and gratuitous advice’ by ‘unrelated third parties.’ Meanwhile, upon Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, Pannun alleged that AAP received $16M from Khalistani groups from 2014-2022. He claimed in 2014, Delhi CM Kejriwal proposed releasing Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar in exchange for financial support. Bhullar has allegedly been involved in the 1993 Delhi Bomb Blast, which killed 9 people and injured 31 others. The Supreme Court of India confirmed Bhullar’s death sentence in a fractured and divided decision, and later commuted the sentence to life in prison on 31 Mar 2014. Pannun’s claim on Diaspora Sikhs funding political parties is a half-truth; they had, up until 2014, funded all who visited Gurdwaras, including AAP, INC, and SAD.

‘Unconfirmed’ reports of the UK seizing ‘roughly £10 million from alleged Khalistani networks and over 5,000 additional bank accounts are currently under scrutiny’ (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 12, Story 7). The UK govt. has denied reports that have gone viral in Indian media saying PM Rishi Sunak has ‘struck Khalistani networks’ in Britain and seized the money. A spokesperson from the Home Office said, ‘The home office does not recognise these claims.’ Meanwhile, India has blocked the For­eign Cor­re­spon­dent-Aus­tralian Broad­cast­ing Cor­po­ra­tion (ABC) doc­u­men­tary, Sikhs, Spies, and Mur­der, which investigates In­di­a’s ex­tra­ju­di­cial killing plans on for­eign soil; it has been asked to go off air af­ter going vi­ral on Google-owned YouTube within three days of its re­lease. YouTube in­formed ABC that they re­ceived an or­der from In­di­a’s Min­istry of In­for­ma­tion and Broad­cast­ing over the documentary. The spe­cific or­der was ‘con­fi­den­tial’ but it came un­der In­di­a’s In­for­ma­tion Tech­nol­ogy Act (2000). An ABC spokesper­son said, ‘It was metic­u­lously re­searched and bal­anced, sought an ar­ray of per­spec­tives, and up­holds the high­est ed­i­to­r­ial stan­dards. We de­fend the au­di­ence’s fun­da­men­tal right to ac­cess this story, re­gard­less of their lo­ca­tion.’ In Feb 2023, India banned the British Broad­cast­ing Cor­po­ra­tion (BBC) doc­u­men­tary, In­dia –The Modi Ques­tion. In Mar 2024, India blocked the Cana­dian Broad­cast­ing Cor­po­ra­tion (CBC) doc­u­men­tary in The Fifth Es­tate sec­tion ­ti­tled Con­tract to Kill on YouTube. In 2023, In­dia slipped to Rank 161/180 on the World Press Free­dom In­dex by Re­porters Sans Fron­tiers.

On 29 Mar, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) passed its $151M (₹1,261 crore) annual budget at the General House session at Teja Singh Samundri Hall with a 14% annual increase. 83% of the allocated budget is for the gurdwaras, followed by educational institutes, Dharam Parchar Committee (religious awareness), printing press, and funds under various heads. SGPC demanded resolution of pending cases and disputes related to historical places outside Panjab. Among them are Gurdwara Gian Godri Sahib in Uttrakhand, Gurdwara Dongmar Sahib and Gurdwara Sahib Chungthang in Sikkim (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 5, Story 2), Gurdwara Bavali Matth, Mangu Matth and Panjabi Matth, Puri in Odisha, and Gurdwara Taposthan Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. They also demanded release of Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners), focus on human rights of Sikh prisoners, the arrest of Honeypreet, an associate of Ram Rahim of Dera Sacha Sauda (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 12, Story 6), and condemned interference in Sikh institutions and Haryana govt. action on farmers. They welcomed new Pakistan Panjab CM Maryam Nawaz’s announcement regarding teaching Panjabi in schools of the province and asked the Pakistan govt. to free properties of historical Gurdwaras in the country. In a parallel development, SGPC filed an objection with the management of Airtel Digital TV for running ads that scroll on the bottom of the TV screen during the live broadcast of Gurbani obstructing the English translation of Gurbani verses. Airtel says since they are time-bound commercials, they cannot be stopped prematurely. These are pitfalls of banking on a third-party. When allocating the budget, SGPC should have allocated funds for an independent satellite channel.

On 26 Mar, BJP state chief Sunil Jakhar announced, ‘BJP will fight the general elections solo in Panjab, there is no alliance with SAD.’ SAD spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler said, ‘Personal affiliations are one thing, alliance is something else. If we forged an alliance in the past, it was on the issues of Panjab and for the peace and harmony in Panjab. Today too, we have a few issues of Panjab and issues of Panth (Sikh Collective). We are a regional party. We talk about Panjab.’ President of SAD Sukhbir Singh Badal said the issues are the release of Sikh political prisoners and the transfer of Chandigarh to Panjab, in addition to the farmers’ issues. On 28 Mar, during his Panjab Bachao Yatra (Save Panjab Campaign), Badal accused BJP of grabbing the management of Sikh religious places in Haryana and Maharashtra. He attacked INC over ‘Operation Blue Star’ and the 1984 anti-Sikh genocide, and AAP over splurging on advertisements. It is clear that SAD is trying to recover its lost moral ground and appeal to Sikh and farmer voters. BJP has announced its candidates for six seats in Panjab. From Amritsar they are fielding former Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. From Ludhiana, recent INC defector Ravneet Singh Bittu. From Jalandhar, earlier INC and now AAP defector Sushil Kumar Rinku. From Patiala, INC defector Preneet Kaur. Hans Raj Hans — North West Delhi MP in the outgoing 17th Lok Sabha — has been fielded from Faridkot. From Gurdaspur, Sunny Deol has been dropped in favor of Dinesh Singh Babbu. Three of six are turncoats.

On 31 Mar, in a show of strength, the INDIA bloc held a massive Loktantra Bachao Rally (Save Democracy Rally) at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. Top leaders of India’s opposition coalition and thousands of supporters rallied in the capital, decrying autocracy, and in protest against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. The leaders made key demands from the Election Commission of India (ECI) which include a level playing field, stop efforts to scuttle the finances of opposition parties, and stop action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax department. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which refused to join the INDIA bloc, also participated in the rally. For Delhi and Panjab, in the absence of top AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, the present situation appears set to pitchfork Panjab CM Bhagwant Mann as the sole spearhead of the party campaign in the parliamentary elections. Of the 22 Lok Sabha seats being contested by the AAP, 13 are in Panjab, 4 in Delhi, 2 in Gujarat, 2 in Assam, and 1 in Haryana. However, days after Kejriwal’s arrest, on 27 Mar, the ED began a raid at the house of Punjab Excise and Taxation Commissioner Varun Roojam. The latest action followed BJP state chief Sunil Jakhar’s complaint to the ECI, seeking a probe into Panjab’s excise policy as well. The ED took cognizance of the Panjab’s Vigilance Bureau First Information Report (FIR) pertaining to embezzlement of $16.4M released as compensation for guava orchards on land acquired by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority between 2016 and 2020.

Even as AAP leaders are in jail over the alleged liquor scam, a team of Panjab Police has been deployed at the Delhi residence of former Panjab MLA and liquor baron Deep Malhotra for his protection. On 3 Dec 2023, gangsters allegedly opened fire in front of Malhotra’s residence in Delhi. Two shooters linked to the Goldy Brar-Lawrence Bishnoi gang involved in extortion were arrested in connection with the incident. But the over-three-month-long police cover by the Panjab Police also points to Malhotra’s indirect connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam being probed by Indian agencies. Malhotra, a former SAD (Badal) legislator, made headlines in Feb 2023 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested his son in the Delhi excise policy case. Malhotra owned Zira-based Malbros International Private Limited distillery, which was in news all of 2023 due to neighboring villagers’ protests over air, water, and land pollution. Despite govt. effort to discredit protestors, fake reports, and pushing media to not report the protest, in Jan 2023 the Panjab CM ordered the closure of the factory. The case demanding complete closure of the distillery is ongoing in the National Green Tribunal. On the other hand, as March ends, over 20,000 primary school teachers posted in various districts of Panjab are yet to get their salary for February. Both factions of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) in the state have pressed the govt. for immediate action in this regard. Democratic Teachers’ Front (Sharma) chief Digvijay Pal Sharma said primary teachers in many blocks are yet to receive their salaries, including in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Sangrur, and Ferozepur.

In 2012, when the Indian Supreme Court (SC) canceled 122 telecom licenses allotted by the INC-led govt., ordering that telecom spectrum be auctioned, media reports hailed the verdict as ‘a decisive blow against corruption.’ The court order in what was popularly called the 2G spectrum scam contributed dramatically to the anti-corruption movement that propelled the BJP to power. More than a decade later, the Modi govt. announced the use of satellites to provide broadband services. Despite the SC’s order calling for compulsory auction of spectrum, the Modi govt. decided to adopt the INC route: discretionary allotment. In December 2023, the govt. hurried a new telecom law through Parliament that allowed satellite spectrum to be assigned through an administrative order, doing away with the need for competitive auctions. Only one company cleared the first two hurdles in getting the spectrum. OneWeb India received both the license and the space authorization required to apply for the spectrum. OneWeb India is the Indian subsidiary of international satellite company Eutelsat OneWeb, headquartered in London. The largest shareholder of Eutelsat OneWeb is Airtel owned by Bharti Enterprises whose owner Sunil Mittal hails from Ludhiana, Panjab. Bharti Enterprises is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Delhi, with interests in a diverse range of industries such as telecom, digital infrastructure, space communications, financial services and real estate. Recently released data on electoral bonds shows the Bharti group donated $18M to the BJP through two sets of bonds purchased before and after the govt. introduced the new law, and merely a month after the govt. granted OneWeb the space authorisation required to get the spectrum. This is a glaring example of how electoral bonds prompted the govt. to tweak rules and benefit donors.

In Malerkotla district of Panjab – which has 68.5% Muslim population – the month-long Ramzan observance and fast-breaking festivities are unique as they are not confined to the Muslim community. Members of the community are being invited by Hindu and Sikh neighbors for Roza Iftar, the evening meal that is meant to break fast during Ramzan. There is iftar in Hindu temples and Gurdwaras. Muslims too have been inviting Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians to join them in special Ramzan prayers. Malerkotla was founded by Sheikh Sadruddin-i-Jahan in 1454. The president of the All-India Brahmin Front, Mahant Swaroop Bihari Sharma, said they have been celebrating Roza Iftar and Eid here for several years. The Laxmi Narayan Mandir and Aqsa Mosque are adjacent to each other and share a common wall, reflecting deep ties going back over three centuries. Malerkotla’s communal harmony dates back to 1704 when Wazir Khan, the Nawab of Sirhind arrested the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, nine-year-old Zorawar Singh and seven-year-old Fateh Singh and ordered their executions. The Nawab of Malerkotla, Shah Mohammad Khan, opposed Wazir Khan. Later, Sikhs built Gurdwara Haa Da Naara to honor his ‘rallying cry for justice.’ Adnan Ali Khan of Malerkotla’s royal family said, ‘Whether it is Gurdwara Haa Da Naara, where Gurbani Kirtan and Namaz are performed simultaneously during Ramzan or inviting Muslims for iftar, [our] history is unique. Even during the Partition of 1947, Malerkotla remained untouched by religious hatred. We feel proud the youngsters are also following suit.’ Communal harmony is also evident in Panjab in instances where Sikhs and Hindus have built Mosques for the 1.93% Muslim community members in their villages.