On the day she was born, Sukhwant Kaur’s father Sulkhan Singh was in Lahore Jail as part of India’s freedom movement.
Sukhwant Kaur, 82, witnessed the partition of India and Pakistan as a child, shed blood and arrived in the newly formed India with her father, later to become known as a freedom fighter. The family settled in Bhakna village in Amritsar in 1947, where Kaur became the first student at a school started by Gadar Party founder Sohan Singh Bhakna, a close associate of her father.
Married to government lecturer Sukhdev Singh, Kaur led a fulfilling life until tragedy struck in November 1992, when police killed her father, husband and son in a staged encounter while refusing her body for cremation.
On 31 October 1992, Sulkhan Singh visited Kaur in Amritsar. The next morning, the police, led by ASI Avtar Singh, detained her and her husband at Sarhali police station. Although the family and members of the teachers’ association were found, their whereabouts could not be revealed after three days. Kaur, fearing foul play, sent telegrams and complaints to higher authorities, but received no response.
Sukhdev Singh, then Vice-Principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Lopoke, Amritsar, was well respected. Communist leaders Satpal and Vimala Dang, friends of the family, also wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, who denied the men were in police custody.
In December 1992, police claimed Kaur’s son Baljinder Singh had been killed in an encounter but did not recover his body.
In 1995, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the mass cremation of unidentified bodies by the Punjab police, including human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who was also killed in a fake encounter. (Express Photo)
In 1995, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the mass cremation of unidentified bodies by the Punjab police, including human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who was also killed in a fake encounter. Kaur gave her statement to the CBI in 1996, which led to a case in 1997 against the then Surhali SHO Surinderpal Singh and ASI Avtar Singh for kidnapping and criminal conspiracy. In 2000 the CBI’s closure report was rejected by the Patiala court, prompting further investigation.
In 2003, police personnel took Kaur’s signature on a blank paper and later issued a death certificate for Sukhdev Singh, who died of a heart attack on July 7, 1993. Harike was thrown into the canal after torture,” said human rights activist Sarabjit Singh Verka.
In 2009, the CBI filed a charge sheet, and the charges were framed in 2016. However, ASI Avtar Singh died during the trial.
On Wednesday, Special CBI Judge Manjot Kaur convicted Surinderpal Singh, former SHO of Sarhali, on charges of kidnapping, illegal detention and criminal conspiracy to kill Sulkhan Singh and Sukhdev Singh. Singh is already serving life imprisonment in Jaswant Singh Khalra murder case and 10 years imprisonment in another case of disappearance.
“I was bedridden in 2021 and did not expect to live. I requested my family for speedy justice. Somehow, I lived to hear it,” Kaur said. “Justice for the killing of the freedom fighter and his son-in-law is a relief even if it is impossible. I still seek justice for my son, but maybe not for this life.”
As ordered by the National Human Rights Commission, Kaur received compensation for her son’s murder.
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package