The Sikh community observed the death anniversary of prominent human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra in India and across the world.
Jaswant Singh Khalra was abducted by Indian police in Punjab on 6th September 1995, and was tortured to death in late October 1995.
Khalra was investigating extra-judicial killings of Sikhs by the Indian Police in Punjab. Khalra was invited abroad to provide evidence of the murders of Sikhs. As per his report, 25,000 Sikhs were illegally cremated; 6,000 from Amritsar district alone. His documentation exposed an ecosystem of impunity and contextualized the individual asylum cases that had created the Sikh diaspora population in the West since 1984.
Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said the voice of the S Khalra was silenced forever because he became the voice of the voiceless. He said, the contribution and sacrifice of Khalra was unique as he was struggling to get justice for the disappeared persons who were illegally abducted, tortured, eliminated and cremated as unidentified bodies by the Inidan police and other security forces in Punjab.
Khalra had charged the police with clandestinely cremating 2,097 dead bodies in Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Majitha areas.
