Human rights in Punjab, India
Encyclopedia
Background
From 1984 to 1994, the state of PunjabPunjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
in northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
was engaged in a power struggle between the militant secessionist Khalistan movement
Khalistan movement
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
and Indian security forces. The Indian government responded to the escalating Punjab insurgency
Punjab insurgency
The insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab originated in the late 1970s. The roots of the insurgency were very complex.-Punjabi Suba Movement:In the 1950s and 1960s, linguistic issues in India caused civil disorder when the central government declared Hindi as the national language of India...
by launching Operation Bluestar in 1984, storming the Harmandir Sahib
Harmandir Sahib
The Harmandir Sahib also Darbar Sahib , also referred to as the Golden Temple, is a prominent Sikh gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab . Construction of the gurdwara was begun by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, and completed by his successor, Guru Arjan Dev...
, or Golden Temple complex in Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
--the center of Sikh religious and spiritual life, where some militant groups had retreated. The Operation was controversial and resulted in death of several civilians, militants and soldiers. After Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
bodyguards assassinated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, further violence ensued.
The aftermath of these events were felt for more than a decade. According to a Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
report, state security forces adopted “increasingly brutal methods to stem the insurgency, including arbitrary arrests, torture, prolonged detention without trial, disappearances and summary killings of civilians and suspected militants”. Militant organizations responded with increased violence aimed at civilians, state security forces, and Sikh political leaders deemed to be negotiating with the government.
Encounters
The Human Rights Watch report on Punjab concluded that security forces in Punjab “systematically violated international human rights lawInternational human rights law
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
as well as the laws of war
Laws of war
The law of war is a body of law concerning acceptable justifications to engage in war and the limits to acceptable wartime conduct...
governing internal armed conflict.” It further stated that “members of the Punjab police, the federal paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force
Central Reserve Police Force
The Central Reserve Police Force also known as CRPF is the largest of India's Central Armed Police Forces. It functions under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. The CRPF's primary role lies in assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain...
and the Border Security Force
Border Security Force
The Border Security Force is a border patrol agency of the Government of India. Established on December 1, 1965, it is one of the Central Armed Police Forces. Its primary role is to guard India's international borders during peacetime and also prevent transnational crime...
and, to a lesser extent, the Indian army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
...engaged in widespread summary executions of civilians and suspected militants”
The Human Rights Watch delegation concluded that “based on the frequency with which these killings were reported to take place and the consistency of the eyewitness testimony,” such executions were not aberrations but in fact “the product of a deliberate policy known to high-ranking security personnel and members of the civil administrations in Punjab and New Delhi.” Members of the delegation believed that there was “credible evidence to indicate that, in some cases, the police...actually recruited and trained extrajudicial forces to carry out many of these killings,” and that further, “security legislation...increased the likelihood of such abuses by authorizing the security forces to shoot to kill and by protecting them from prosecution for human rights violations”.
During the counter-insurgency campaign the Indian central government gave its security forces wide leeway in their attempt to quell the insurgency, and refused to exert the control necessary to stop widespread abuse of human rights. The Asia Division of Human Rights Watch (formerly Asia Watch) sent a delegation to Punjab for two months in 1990, and during that limited time “documented 29 extrajudicial executions in which the security forces falsely claimed that the victims were killed in ‘encounters’”, along with 12 disappearances and 32 cases of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
by security forces.
US state department says that Over 41,000 cash bounties were paid to police in Punjab for extrajudicial killings of Sikhs between 1991 and 1993 alone and India has not allowed Amnesty International to conduct an independent human-rights investigation in Punjab since 1978.
National Security Act and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
In 1980, India’s National Security Act was passed, which allowed security officials to detain a suspect without charge or trial for one year. In 1984, the NSA was amended so that suspected militants in Punjab could be detained for up to two years. After the 1984 amendments, security officials could detain a suspect for over four months before notifying an Advisory Board of the grounds for detention, and the Board did not have to issue a judgment to the government on those grounds for five more months. Detainees were not informed of any of these decisions, and therefore had no opportunity to file a habeas corpusHabeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
petition. Similarly, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act, commonly known as TADA, was an Indian law active between 1985 and 1995 for the prevention of terrorist activities in Punjab. It came into effect on 23 May 1985. It was renewed in 1989, 1991 and 1993 before being allowed to lapse in 1995 due to increasing...
, or TADA, criminalized any action deemed to be part of a “disruptive activity” and gave the police more time to detain suspects without transfer to judicial custody. Investigations have shown that many of those detained under such laws at various times since their enactment have been innocent of any connection with militant activity. Despite the fact that the Indian government allowed the TADA to lapse in 1995, human rights organizations have claimed that many suspects remained in custody, without charge, awaiting prosecution under TADA.
Armed Forces Special Powers Act
The Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh)Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was passed in 1983. It allows either the governor of a region or the Central Government to declare any part of the state a “disturbed” area, allowing security forces to kill any person carrying something deemed capable of being a weapon, and arrest any person based on a “reasonable suspicion” that they intend to commit an offense. It also empowers security forces to kill any person who is engaged in an action deemed to be a threat to public order, and instructs courts not to take cognizance of any offense committed by such security forces unless specifically instructed to do so by the Central Government.Militants Human Right violations
According to the US State Department, and the Assistant Inspector General of the Punjab Police Intelligence Division, the KCF was responsible for the deaths of thousands in India, including the 1995 assassination of Chief Minister Beant SinghBeant Singh (chief minister)
Beant Singh was an Indian Chief Minister of Punjab from 1992 to 1995. Singh was a Sikh, and a member of the Congress Party....
.
See also
- 1984 Anti-Sikh riots1984 anti-Sikh riotsThe 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...
- Human rights in IndiaHuman rights in IndiaThe situation of human rights in India is a complex one, as a result of the country's large size and tremendous diversity, its status as a developing country and a sovereign, secular, democratic republic, and its history as a former colonial territory. The Constitution of India provides for...
- Operation Bluestar
- Police encounter
- Punjab insurgencyPunjab insurgencyThe insurgency in the Indian state of Punjab originated in the late 1970s. The roots of the insurgency were very complex.-Punjabi Suba Movement:In the 1950s and 1960s, linguistic issues in India caused civil disorder when the central government declared Hindi as the national language of India...