Ensaaf documented about 5316 forced disappearances or extrajudicial killings.,states its website.
There cases are apart from about 2000 cases documented by Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Raghbir Singh Brar
Faridkot
Email:raghbirsinghbrar@gmail.com
According to the documented cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings,Ensaaf, the US based human rights organization had found out that at least more than 5300 persons had been allegedly eliminated by the security forces during the period of insurgency in Punjab.Their dead bodies had hardly handed over to the families as, most of them, according to that time, were cremated as unidentified as had been found out by human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khala, or forced the families to cremate them immediately or they were allegedly thrown into the rivers etc.
Ensaaf started its investigation reportedly in 2004 and according to its website, its teams went from village to village and collected strong evidence that about 5316 persons had been enforced, disappeared or extrajudicial killings.
According to the human rights organization Ensaaf.org, it had collected the data from across the state and found that nearly 5316 persons had been allegedly eliminated.
Amritsar tops the list with 2098,followed by Gurdaspur with 636,Ferozpur 318,
Bathindfa 142,Moga 250,Ludhiana 350, Sangrur 339 and Faridkot 62.
Ensaaf had given its findings based on the census 2001.
Disposing of bodies
The organisation also states the chilling details of the way of disposing of the dead bodies allegedly picked up by the security forces.
It said that the dead bodies of only 16 percent of the so called militants,totalling 829 had been returned to the families.
1.4 percent of dead bodies were forced to cremate immediately.
Nearly 67 percent of dead bodies were not handed over to the families,which is a very large number.
Where does Faridkot stand
According to Ensaaf,62 persons had been the victims of the enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings in district Faridkot.
8 victims alone belonged to village Bishnandi under Jaitu subdivision.
Nearly 26-27 persons belonged to then Tehsil Jaitu and remaining about 43-35 belonged to then Tehsil Faridkot.
Kotkapura was not a tehsil at that time.
As for the perpetrators of the crime are concerned, alone Ajit Singh Sandhu,who had had two terms as SSP Tarn Taran during the period had been allegedly held responsible for the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of 513 persons.
This documentation had been allegedly prepared after Jaswant Singh Khalra was allegedly abducted and later on murdered.
Apart from it,Ram Narayan Kumar, a human rights activist, who had co-authored a book”Reduced to Ashes” had also allegedly documented some other such cases.
Though later on the CBI inquiry into some cases proved such allegations to be true and courts convicted some,yet a lot of time went wasted and all the accused could not be brought to the book,tried or convicted.
As it is said that justice delayed, justice denied, it also allegedly happened here.
Note
No originality is claimed.The information has been processed to publish as very short piece from the website of the Ensaaf.org, a US based human rights organization.All the screenshots have been taken courtesy Ensaaf.