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Jaswant Singh Khalra

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Jaswant Singh Khalra
Jaswant Singh Khalra speaking at Gurudwara Sahib in Canada
Born1952
Khalra, Punjab, India
Died1995(1995-00-00) (aged 42–43)
Chabhal Kalan, Punjab, India
Cause of death
Extrajudicial execution
OccupationsHuman rights activist, General Secretary of Human Rights Wing of Shiromani Akali Dal
SpouseParamjit Kaur Khalra

Jaswant Singh Khalra (1952–1995)[1][2] was an Indian human rights activist. He was one of the most prominent human rights activists in Punjab.[3][4][5] He gained international recognition after uncovering evidence of thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and illegal cremations carried out by the Punjab Police during the insurgency in Punjab, India.[6]

His investigation documented approximately 25,000 illegal cremations and alleged that around 2,000 police personnel who refused to participate in unlawful killings had themselves been killed,[7][8] Khalra's work drew the attention of international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and became one of the most significant human rights investigations concerning Punjab in the 1990s.[9]

Khalra was abducted from outside his home in Amritsar on 6 September 1995 and was subsequently murdered. His killing became a landmark human rights case in India, culminating in the conviction and life imprisonment of six Punjab Police officials for his abduction and murder. His death has since become a symbol of the struggle for truth, accountability and justice in Punjab.[10][11][12][9]

Activism

Jaswant Singh Khalra was the director of a bank in the city of Amritsar in Punjab during the militancy period in Punjab. Following Operation Blue Star, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the police were empowered to detain suspects for any reason, ostensibly as suspected terrorists. The police were accused of killing unarmed suspects in staged shootouts and burning thousands of dead bodies to cover up the murders.[13][14][15]

Khalra was investigating four major cases at one time and continued to collect evidence and witnesses. These cases included the custodial killing of Behla, the human-shield case concerning the death of seven civilians, the cremation of 25,000 unidentified bodies in Punjab, and that police had killed about 2,000 police officers not collaborating in counter-terror operations.[6] The Central Bureau of Investigation, a union government agency, concluded that police had unlawfully cremated 2,097 people in Tarn Taran district alone.[7]

As per CBI investigation records quoted by Supreme Court (speaking through Sathasivam J and Chauhan J in Prithpal Singh v State of Punjab)[16] he was a human rights activist working on the abduction, elimination, and cremation of unclaimed human bodies during the insurgency period in Indian Punjab. The court observed that the police had been eliminating young persons under the pretext of being militants and disposing of their bodies without record.[17]

While searching for some colleagues who went missing, Khalra discovered files from the municipal corporation of Amritsar which contained the names, ages, and addresses of those who had been killed and later burnt by the police.[18] Further research revealed cases in 3 other districts in Punjab, increasing the list by thousands.[19]

The National Human Rights Commission released a list of some of the identified bodies that were cremated by the police in the Police Districts of Amritsar, Majitha, and Tarn Taran between June 1984 and December 1994. The Supreme Court of India and the National Human Rights Commission of India have certified the validity of this data.

Jaswant Singh Khalra asserted there could have been over 25,000 Sikhs illegally killed and cremated by the state. To date, families of those who "disappeared" during the insurgency are awaiting confirmation of the fate of their missing loved ones. A list of names has been published by Tribune India.[20]

Jaswant supported a theocratic Sikh state, noted particularly in his own article, The Game Of Elections - Should It Be Played Or Not? which was originally published in Liberation Khalistan (February 1992). In the article, he considered the assassins Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh as Khalistani heeray (diamonds). He had infact, founded the monthly magazine 'Liberation Khalistan' in 1992 & served as both its editor and primary writer.[21]

Family

Khalra's grandfather, Harnam Singh, was an activist in the Ghadar movement for the independence of India. Harnam Singh was also one of 376 passengers of the ship, Komagata Maru which famously sailed from British-Hong Kong, via Shanghai, China, and Yokohama, Japan, to Vancouver, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, British India. Of them, 24 were admitted to Canada, but the other 352 passengers were not allowed to disembark in Canada, and the ship was forced to return to India. Harnam Singh, among others, was arrested upon their arrival and was tried in the Lahore conspiracy case against the British empire and was later imprisoned at Lahore jail.

In 1975, the Punjab government offered pensions and honours to freedom fighters families, Khalra opposed accepting any recognition for his grandfather's role in the Ghadar movement. [22]

Jaswant Singh's wife, Paramjit Kaur Khalra, has continued her husband's activism and is a noted human rights activist herself. Jaswant Singh' had two children, Navkiran Kaur and Janmeet Singh. Other living family members include his father Kartar Singh, mother Mukhtar Kaur, three brothers Rajinder Singh Sandhu, Amarjeet Singh Sandhu (both live in the United Kingdom) and Gurdev Singh Sandhu (lives in Austria) and five sisters: Paritam Kaur, Mohinder Kaur, Harjinder Kaur (retired BEO) Balbir Kaur (retired headteacher) and Beant Kaur.[23]

Murder

On 6 September 1995, while he was washing his car in front of his house, Khalra was abducted by personnel of Punjab Police and taken to Jhabal Police Station.[9] Although witnesses gave statements implicating the police,[9] and named Director General of the Punjab Police, Kanwar Pal Singh Gill as a conspirator,[24] police have denied ever arresting or detaining Khalra. Further, the police have claimed to have had no knowledge of his whereabouts.

In 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation found evidence that he was held at a police station in Tarn Taran and recommended the prosecution of nine Punjab Police officials for murder and kidnapping.[9] Those accused of his murder were not charged for ten years,[25] though one of the suspects, Senior Superintendent of Police Ajit Singh Sandhu was murdered in 1997. However, his murder was staged as a suicide.[9] On 18 November 2005, six Punjab police officials were convicted. Two defendants, Deputy Superintendent Jaspal Singh and Amarjit Singh, were sentenced to life imprisonment and the others to seven years imprisonment for Khalra's abduction and murder.[26] On 16 October 2007, a division bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court, chaired by Justices Mehtab Singh Gill and A. N. Jindal, extended the sentence to life imprisonment for the other four accused: Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, Jasbir Singh (all former sub inspectors) and Prithipal Singh (former head constable).[27][28]

On 11 April 2011, the Supreme Court of India dismissed the appeal filed against the sentence to life imprisonment for the four accused, scathingly criticizing the atrocities committed by Punjab Police during the disturbance period.[29][30]

Legacy

In September 2020, The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and other Sikh institutions have commemorated Khalra as "Shaheed Bhai Jaswant Singh Khalra" and have held annual shaheedi samagams in his memory.[31]

In March 2013, Canada's New Democratic Party had adopted a convention resolution commemorating him and promoting awareness of his investigation into enforced disappearances in Punjab.[32]

In September 2025, The Government of British Columbia officially proclaimed September 6, 2025, as Jaswant Singh Khalra Day.[33]

In April 2026, Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives in Ontario, Canada, organised the 'Challenging the Darkness - Jaswant Singh Khalra' exhibition during Sikh Heritage Month honouring 30 years since his death. [34]

School

In June 2025, the Jaswant Singh Khalra Elementary School opened in Fresno, California, becoming the first elementary school in the United States to be named in honour of Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. [35][36]

In June 2025, the Jaswant Singh Khalra Khalsa School was inaugurated in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, as a Sikh faith based school established in memory of Khalra. The school announced that its first academic session would begin in September 2025. [37]

Memorial

The City Council of Fresno approved the proposal to rename Victoria Park after Jaswant Singh Khalra on 26 August 2017.[38] After bringing the motion before the City Council, the council member Oliver Baines said, "Jaswant Singh Khalra for Punjabi/Sikh Community is like Martin Luther King Jr. for my community."[39]

Film

Satluj, a 2026 Indian is based on the life of Khalra, with Diljit Dosanjh portraying Khalra.[40] Though it was initially named as Ghalughara (from ghallughara meaning "massacre") and Punjab '95, the Censor Board raised objections on the film and production unit, demanding 127 cuts and a new title. The release of the film was subsequently delayed indefinitely, until it was finally released on ZEE5, on July 3, 2026, without any cuts.[41][42] However, the Indian government banned the film and it was taken down within 48 hours. This prompted guerilla screenings in Punjab and surrounding states.[43]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Valiant – Jaswant Singh Khalra: New Book Launched". Sikh Siyasat News. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "India: Fear of disappearance / fear of torture: Jaswant Singh Khalra, human rights activist". Amnesty International. 6 September 1995.
  3. ↑ Symphony of Freedom. All India Peoples Resistance Forum. 11 October 2008. pp. Papers on Nationality Question. Even in the last three years in Punjab six advocates, five journalists and a number of prominent human rights activists like Jaswant Singh Khalra and Ram Singh Billing have been killed by extra judicial execution, by the hit squad of the Punjab police.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  4. ↑ Singh, Santbir (8 September 2025). "The Legacy of Jaswant Singh Khalra". Sikh Research Institute. Thirty years ago, famed human rights activist Bhai Jaswant Singh Khalra was abducted, tortured, and murdered by the Punjab Police. He was killed for the work he did in exposing the Punjab Police's crimes of extrajudicial killings and illegal cremations. Three decades after his death, what can we learn from his example?
  5. ↑ Singh, Ajmer (2025). Darkness Defied: The Life and Legacy of Jaswant Singh Khalra. an immortal defender of human rights, who relentlessly pursued the truth to unmask the impunity and injustices perpetrated by the Indian state.
  6. 1 2 Politics of genocide: Punjab, 1984-1998, Inderjit Singh Jaijee, p.101, Inderjit Singh Jaijee, 1999
  7. 1 2 The Politics of Religion in South and Southeast Asia, p. 74, Taylor & Francis, by Ishtiaq Ahmed.
  8. ↑ Yasmin, Shahana (7 July 2026). "Why a Diljit Dosanjh film released after a four-year battle with censors was gone within two days". The Independent. The life of Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who documented over 25,000 alleged extrajudicial killings in Punjab in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the northern Indian state was gripped by a deadly insurgency, before he was abducted and murdered in 1995.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "India: A Mockery of Justice: The case concerning the "disappearance" of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra severely undermined". Amnesty International. 31 March 1998. This brief report documents the means used by accused police officers, including delay of proceedings and intimidation of witnesses, in their search of impunity for the "disappearance" of Jaswant Singh Khalra, human rights defender and General secretary of the Human Rights Wing of the Akali Dal political party.
  10. ↑ Rana, Yudhvir. "31 Years on, image of Khalra being driven away still haunts eyewitness". Times of India. His efforts shed light on thousands of unidentified killings and earned him global recognition as a symbol of resistance against human rights abuses.
  11. ↑ "Other Screams of Terror". Human Rights Watch. 27 September 2005. The killing of Jaswant Singh Khalra cannot, and should not, be forgotten. For Jaswant Singh Khalra took on an indispensable job in a democracy: he dared to ask questions.
  12. ↑ "How Punjab's missing thousands are being forgotten". BBC. 3 June 2014. His lawyers point out that similar arguments were made against the police whistleblower who testified after the 1995 murder of prominent human rights lawyer Jaswant Singh Khalra. Five police officers were eventually convicted of that murder.
  13. ↑ Singh, Harman (11 September 2018). "Every Canadian Should Know The Tale Of This Murdered Sikh Activist". Huff Post. His breakthrough came when he discovered files from the municipal corporation of the city of Amritsar which contained the names, age, addresses of those who had been killed and later burned by the Police. Further research revealed other cases in three other districts in Punjab, increasing the list by thousands. Jaswant Singh Khalra exposed the murder of approximately 25,000 Sikhs in the late 1980s/early 90s, a figure many believe is just the tip of the iceberg.
  14. ↑ "Who Killed the Sikhs". Journeyman Pictures. 4 June 2002. "a portion of this documentary can be viewed here"
  15. ↑ "Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India," Archived 11 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Human Rights Watch & Ensaaf Joint Report, 18 October 2007. pp. 29-30.
  16. ↑ Prithipal Singh v. State of Punjab, (2012) 1 SCC 10
  17. ↑ "khalra custodial death-sc upholds life in jail for Punjab cops". Retrieved 15 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ↑ SBS Dateline. April 2002. "a portion of this episode on Punjab can be viewed here" Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ Kumar, Ram; Singh, Amrik; Agrwaal, Ashok & Kaur, Jaskaran (2003). Reduced To Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. Kathamandu (Nepal): South Asia Forum for Human Rights. ISBN 99933-53-57-4 "Biography of Khalra, Chapter 1, Reduced to Ashes (pdf, 5 MB)" p.54.
  20. ↑ "NHRCList". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  21. ↑ "The Game Of Elections - Should It Be Played Or Not?". www.baaznews.org. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  22. ↑ Singh, Jupinderjit (20 July 2026). "The making of Jaswant Singh Khalra: 3 generations of resistance". The Tribune. In 1975, when the Punjab government offered pensions and honours to families of freedom fighters, Jaswant opposed accepting any recognition for his grandfather's role in the Ghadar movement. He argued that accepting government benefits would diminish Harnam Singh's unfulfilled struggle. His father agreed and declined both the pension and the honour.
  23. ↑ Kumar, Ram; Singh, Amrik; Agrwaal, Ashok; Kaur, Jaskaran (2003). Reduced To Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. Kathamandu (Nepal): South Asia Forum for Human Rights. ISBN 99933-53-57-4.
  24. ↑ "K.P.S. Gill visited Khalra in jail, says witness". The Tribune, Chandigarh, India. 17 February 2005.
  25. ↑ Meenakshi Ganguly (27 September 2005). "Other Screams of Terror". Human Rights Watch.
  26. ↑ "Punjab Cops Convicted of 1995 Murder of Activist Khalra". Ensaaf. Archived from the original on 23 November 2006. Retrieved 25 January 2007.
  27. ↑ "Khalra murder case: HC grants life imprisonment to 4 cops - Chandigarh - City - NEWS". The Times of India. 16 October 2007. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  28. ↑ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News". Tribuneindia.com. 6 September 1995. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  29. ↑ “Judgement of the Supreme Court of India in C.A Nos. 523 of 2009”[permanent dead link]
  30. ↑ "Activist Khalra custodial death: SC upholds life in jail for Punjab cops". The Times of India. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  31. ↑ "Akal Takht pays tribute to activist Jaswant Singh Khalra". The Tribune. 7 September 2020. In a first, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Sunday remembered prominent human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra on his 25th martyrdom day. The family members of Khalra and rights activists initiated a 'sehaj paath' at a gurdwara here. Recognising Khalra's contribution for the Sikh community, Giani Harpreet Singh read out a 'message' from Takht Damdama Sahib. Khalra never cared for his life while launching a crusade against the government for Sikhs killed under conspiracy.
  32. ↑ Wherry, Aaron (15 April 2013). "NDP convention: The final resolutions". Macleans.
  33. ↑ "British Columbia Proclaims September 6th as Jaswant Singh Khalra Day". The Times of Canada. 29 October 2025.
  34. ↑ "Celebrate Sikh Heritage Month this April at PAMA". Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA). 26 March 2025.
  35. ↑ Akins, Adjoa (26 June 2025). "Central Unified opens first U.S. elementary school named after Punjabi human rights hero". Fox26 News.
  36. ↑ "US to get its first public school named after Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra". Times of India. 31 January 2025.
  37. ↑ "Jaswant Singh Khalra Khalsa School". Jaswant Singh Khalra Khalsa School.
  38. ↑ "California city names park after Sikh human rights advocate". NBC News. 6 September 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  39. ↑ "Fresno (CA) City Council To Rename Park After Jaswant Singh Khalra". SikhNet. 4 September 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  40. ↑ "Punjab 95: Diljit Dosanjh's Jaswant Singh Khalra biopic to release in February". India Today. 13 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  41. ↑ "Punjab 95 teaser: Diljit Dosanjh plays courageous activist Jaswant Singh Khalra; film to finally release on this date". The Indian Express. 17 January 2025.
  42. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (3 July 2026). "Diljit Dosanjh's 'Satluj,' Formerly 'Punjab '95' That Was Pulled From Toronto, Streams Uncut on ZEE5 Global: 'This Is the Complete Film, Without Any Cuts or Compromises'". Variety. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  43. ↑ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (18 July 2026). "'A revolutionary act to watch it': the film India's censors do not want you to see". The Guardian.
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