Victims of Police Torture
Bhai Nirvair Singh was the Granthi of Gurdwara Shaheedaa(n), Amritsar. Bhai Nirvair Singh's younger brother, Bhai Kulwant Singh was a Sikh Resistance Fighter and the police constantly raided their home in search of him. Finally, unable to locate Kulwant Singh, SSP Azhar Alam and his "Black Cats" shot Bhai Nirvair Singh to death. Bhai Nirvair Singh's wife, Bibi Manjit Kaur, was with him at the time and ran to save herself. The police caught Bibi Manjit Kaur and badly beat her with their rifle *****. They let her live, but her ordeal was far from over.
On May 5, 1988, the police again raided the house. Bhai Nirvair Singh's youngest brother,
Bhai Dilbagh Singh, a Granthi at Gurdwara Baba Bakala, was home but hid himself, fearing for his life. The police spotted him and without any warning, shot him dead. Bibi Manjit Kaur was still in the house when the police entered and they immediately began to beat her.
They grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the fields where the Indian Police tortured her for an hour and a half. When Bibi Manjit Kaur was almost senseless, they threw her on top of Bhai Dilbagh Singh's dead body and laughed, "Now get your Khalistan…". Bibi Manjit Kaur's feet were so swollen from the torture that she could not walk for days. Her scalp also oozed blood from the repeated blows. Villagers who were witnesses to this scene were also beaten and told to keep their mouths shut. Harassment of their family and relatives continued.
Azhar Alam
Today, Azhar Alam is a high ranking official in the Vigilance Bureau of the Punjab The story of the treatment of Sikh women at the hands of Indian Security Forces is a long and sad one. I don't know which cases to highlight and which to leave.
Should I write about Sarbjit Kaur (14) and Salwinder Kaur (13) who were abducted while collecting clay for a school project and then gang raped and killed by Indian Police? Or should I write about the seven-year-old daughter of a Singh who was molested and then dismembered by the Police's Poohla Nang? The list is endless.
The abuse of Sikh women was and is widespread in Punjab. Mothers, wives and children of Sikh fighters were considered legitimate targets. The butchers who were responsible for these tragedies are still in the police force today. They are now high ranking officers. And the abuse continues…
"Now Get Your Khalistan…"
Perhaps the most brutal of all Indian Police officials in Punjab was Batala's Gobind Ram.
Gobind Ram took sadistic pleasure in personally torturing Sikh prisoners and kept a vat filled with feces and urine that he force-fed to amritdhari Sikhs while saying, "You have drunk the amrit of Gobind Singh, now drink the amrit of Gobind Ram."
Gobind Ram's atrocities came to light nationwide when he ordered the arrest of Bibi Gurdev Kaur (wife of Bhai Kulwant Singh Babbar) and Bibi Gurmeet Kaur (wife of Bhai Mehal Singh). Both Singhs were underground at the time.
On August 21, 1989, a van with tinted windows came and parked in front of the Parbhat Finance Company, Amritsar, where both Singhnees worked. Six armed men got out of the van and approached Bibi Gurmeet Kaur and Bibi Gurdev Kaur, ordering them to get in the van. When the Bibis demanded to know who they were, one man identified himself as Lakhwinder Lakha, ASI. He said that the police party had come from Batala Sadr police station and would have to come with him. When the Singhnees began to make a scene, the police threw them into the van. Bibi Gurmeet Kaur and Bibi Gurdev Kaur's dastaars were ripped off and used to tie their arms and their kirpans were also taken off.
The van arrived at the notorious Beco Torture Centre in Batala at 7pm. When the Singhnees went inside, they saw SSP Gobind Ram beating a Sikh youth with a rod. When he saw the two women enter, he immediately came towards them and hit Gurdev Kaur in the stomach with his rod. Bibi Gurdev Kaur collapsed onto the ground and began to bleed from her private parts. The bleeding did not stop for several days. Gobind Ram kept hitting Bibi Gurdev Kaur in the stomach without saying a word for five minutes. He then gave the rod to another Inspector whom he ordered to hit Bibi Gurdev Kaur in the joints.
Gobind Ram next moved to Bibi Gurmeet Kaur whom he threw to the ground and began to kick in the chest. The next torture to begin was the "ghotna" where a heavy log is rolled on the thighs with men standing on top, which results in ripped muscles. In Bibi Gurdev Kaur's own words, "Then they put a heavy roller on my thighs and made a few policemen stand on it, while others rotated it. I kept on screaming but they hit me with belts and kept on asking me the whereabouts of my husband Kulwant Singh."
Both women were severely tortured for two days. Gobind Ram kept demanding to know where Bhai Kulwant Singh and Bhai Mehal Singh were. The Bibis kept repeating that they did not know, but Gobind Ram was not satisfied. They were tortured until they fell unconscious. They were then revived and tortured again.
When Bibi Gurdev Kaur was nearing her death, the police secretly took her to the government hospital and left her there. Gurmeet Kaur's right leg was paralyzed and both Singhnees had been kept awake since their arrest. Someone was called from the outside to massage their limbs so they could regain some sensation again. Both women could not walk but were forced to do so. In the hospital, a merciful lady doctor took care of Gurdev Kaur and also informed her family.
News of all this reached the media and all political religious and social organizations condemned Gobind Ram's actions. When finally Gurmeet Kaur refused to hand over any Singh, she was threatened with being killed. By now though, because the press had gotten wind of the arrest, she was indicted in a false case and sent to jail. After some time, she too was released.
Because Bibi Gurdev Kaur received the best care possible, she was saved from death, but for the rest of her life she would face health problems.
Human Rights organizations condemned Gobind Ram for his brutal treatment of these two women. He claimed that no torture had occurred and both were kept in a "Guest House". KP Gill, the Director General of Punjab Police announced, "the reports against SSP Batala, Gobind Ram by members of Panchyats and Sarpanches (community leaders) were false. There is no truth in them. This was propaganda against the police officers. This was verified after investigations. There were such reports against other honest and hardworking police officers [as well]"
When no action was taken against Gobind Ram, and he continued to torture and maim at will therefore the Singhs took it upon themselves to finish this rabid dog. Gobind Ram was killed on January 10, 1990 in a massive bombing.
KP Gill
KP Gill, ex-Director General of Punjab Police, is thought to have singlehandedly crushed the Khalistan movement in Punjab. He has been given the title of "Super Cop" by Indian media despite having unleashed a wave of terror on the Sikhs that was not even seen in the days of the Mughals. Torture methods were so grotesque and brutal that they cannot be described.
Gill was known to the Sikhs of Punjab as a drunk who also preyed on helpless women. Although Gill is proclaimed "Super Cop" in India and considered a great hero, the fact is that he has been convicted for sexual assault is largely ignored.
In 1988, KP Gill was attending a party to celebrate Operation Black Thunder (an assault on Sree Darbaar Sahib Amrtisar). At this party, in plain view of all attendees, KP Gill sexually assaulted Indian Administrative Service officer Rupen Deol Bajaj. Bajaj was not helpless like most victims and instead of forgetting the incident, filed a police report.
Other officials spoke with Bajaj and asked her to withdraw the case since Gill was a hero in the fight against the Sikh Resistance but despite all this, she persisted. According to one report, "The government immediately took sides and tried to squelch or delay the court case. It also took petty action against Ms. Bajaj by making her a low-ranking official, stopping her mail, taking her off of mailing lists, removing her from government telephone books, etc"
Finally, in 1996, the butcher of Punjab, KP Gill was convicted of sexual assault. Though he was initially sentenced to three months in prison, the sentence was reduced to three years supervised probation (later further reduced to one year, un-supervised probation). He was also ordered to pay Rupen Deol Bajaj Rs. 2 lakh and pay Rs. 50 000 in legal expenses.
If a high ranking officer could not escape being a victim of Gill's lust, what to say of the thousands of poor Sikh women kept in dark cells without any charges and without any rights? This is the character of India's hero, KP Gill, "Super Cop"
And The Abuse Continues Today…
Some argue that in the turmoil of Punjab, perhaps some excesses were committed but times have changed. The Police have reformed and India now treats Sikhs fairly. A glance at the newspapers is enough to dispel that belief. The following story appeared in the Chandigarh Tribune on September 27, 2003 The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh
Chandigarh, September 26
An another incident of brutal torture came to light when a 20-year-old girl, Karamjit Kaur, who was rescued by the Warrant Officer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, today alleged that she was subjected to inhumane treatment and was asked to remove her clothes by the Punjab Police personnel spoke at a press conference organised by the NGO Lawyers for Human Rights International here today.
"Five persons including two women, who had been allegedly subjected to third degree torture for several days by the Punjab Police were rescued by the Warrant Officer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday. These five persons were suspected to be involved in a murder case by the police. The five persons who were released included — Karamjit Kaur, Tirath Kaur, Sahib Singh, Gurdev Singh and Gurmit Singh," informed Mr Arunjeev Singh Walia, Press Secretary.
Showing torture marks on her body, the victim while addressing the scribes, said she was detained at Nabha police station for several days and been tortured. She was even ordered to remove her clothes by police constables.
Narrating her tale of woe, she said police constables, after taking liquor usually interrogated her around midnight. Even if a woman constable was called most of the time she stayed outside the room during her interrogation. The victim further added that: "I can not reveal the details of whatever happened to me as this was worse than a hell."
She further added that "she was subjected to inhuman third degree torture twice by pulling her legs apart in 180 degree and also beaten up with an iron rod in between her legs and two police men putting pressure on that rod.
"I was also threatened of liquidation if I did not disclose the truth and was also molested by the policemen", the victim further said. Similarly, her mother said: "It was difficult to see my husband, son and daughter to be subjected to third degree torture by the police."
When contacted the SHO of the police station concerned denied that they were subjected to third degrees torture. He said that all five of them were called at police station only for a day. Thereafter they were not traceable.
The General Secretary of the NGO, Mr Navkiran Singh, who had moved a petition in the high court for the release of victims said a Warrant Officer had secured the release five victims from the illegal custody of police station Kotwali, Nabha, Patiala district on September 25. He also informed that the high court had also ordered the medical examination of the victims. The Chairman of the NGO, Mr Amar Singh Chahal, demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.
Source:
The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories
