Chronology
Chronology of Punjab/Sikh Human Rights Issues
June 26, 1975
After the Allahabad High Court orders Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to vacate her seat because of her use of illegal practices in the last election campaign, she declares an Emergency. Invoking Article 352 of the Indian Constitution, Gandhi suspends fundamental rights, imposes censorship on the press, and arrests hundreds of political party leaders and activists opposed to her policies. In the following two years of the Emergency period, police imprison thousands of Akali Dal activists in Punjab as they regularly protest the imposition of Emergency.
March 23, 1977
Elections remove Indira Gandhi from power and bring in the opposition united under Janata Dal. Indira Gandhi’s party, the Congress Party, is also defeated in Punjab, bringing the Akali Dal to power.
July 10, 1979
India accedes to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
January 6, 1980
The Congress (I) Party sweeps elections and Indira Gandhi is re-elected as Prime Minister of India.
December 27, 1980
Parliament passes the National Security Act, 1980, authorizing detention of suspected terrorists.
May 1, 1982
The Indian government breaks off talks with the Akalis, initiated in 1981. The government also bans several Sikh organizations, such as the Dal Khalsa.
August 4, 1982
August 2005: Police use water canons to attack survivors of the 1984 massacres of Sikhs protesting the Nanavati Commission Report. The Akali Dal launches a civil disobedience campaign, demanding the implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, such as the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab and a greater share of Punjab’s river waters. In 88 days, the police arrest over 36,000 Akali Dal activists, and preventatively detain at least 2,500 Sikhs under the National Security Act, 1980.
November 19 to December 4, 1982
After the Akali Dal announce plans to protest at the Asian Games in New Delhi, security forces in Haryana search and prevent thousands of Sikhs, including military and judicial officers, from reaching New Delhi in order to attend the Asian Games.
1983
Parliament passes the Armed Forces (Punjab and Chandigarh) Special Powers Act of 1983, empowering security forces to search premises and arrest people without warrant, and permitting them to shoot to kill a suspected terrorist, with prosecutorial immunity. Parliament also passes the Punjab Disturbed Areas Act of 1983, empowering any magistrate or police officer to use lethal force against an individual whose actions “may result in serious breach of the public order,” or may contravene any law or order prohibiting the assembly of more than four persons or the carrying of weapons.
October 6, 1983
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposes President’s Rule on Punjab, dismissing the state government and assembly and declaring Punjab to be a “disturbed area.”
1984
In early 1984, Parliament amends the National Security Act of 1980 to allow for detention without trial for up to two years in Punjab and Chandigarh for acts prejudicial to the security or defense of India.
Parliament passes the Terrorist Affected Areas (Special Courts) Act of 1984 (TAAA), providing for special in camera courts in “terrorist affected” areas, that can conceal the identity of witnesses and hold proceedings in jails. TAAA reverses the presumption of guilt, placing the burden on the accused to prove his innocence if he is shown to have been in an area where explosives or firearms were used against security forces.
May 27, 1984
The Akali Dal announces its plan to launch a civil disobedience campaign, that will halt the sale of grain to other parts of India and withhold taxes, set to begin on June 3.
June 2, 1984
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announces over All-India Radio that she has called the Army into Punjab. 100,000 army troops are deployed in Punjab. Punjab is declared a disturbed area under the Disturbed Areas Act.
June 4 to 6, 1984
Operation Bluestar: On June 3, the martyrdom anniversary of the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, the Indian army attacks the Darbar Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple complex, using tanks and helicopters. The army simultaneously attacks 41 other gurudwaras in Punjab. During this attack on Darbar Sahib, the army reduces the Akal Takht to rubble, burns down the Sikh Reference Library, and loots the treasury. Eyewitnesses estimate that between 4000 to 8000 civilians are killed by the army. The government forbids news coverage of the army attacks, expels foreign journalists, and cuts phone lines across Punjab.
June 14, 1984
The Times of London publishes a report by Associated Press reporter Brahma Chellaney on the June 1984 army attack on the Golden Temple. Chellaney describes how the hands of Sikhs were tied behind their backs and army troops shot them at point-blank range.
July 30, 1984
The Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar, orders the registration of a First Information Report against Associated Press reporter Brahma Chellaney for his report on Operation Bluestar in The Times of London. This initiates months of bail applications filed by Chellaney, police interrogation, and court hearings, during which Chellaney is preliminarily charged with incitement to sedition, violating Punjab press censorship, and fanning sectarian hatred.
October 31, 1984
Two of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Sikh bodyguards assassinate her.
November 1 to 5, 1984
The ruling party in India, Congress (I), institutes organized pogroms against the Sikhs, killing Sikhs, primarily by burning them alive, raping Sikh women, and destroying Sikh gurudwaras and property. The mobs possess voter and ration lists identifying where Sikhs live, and shout slogans of extermination. The police refuse to help Sikhs or counter the violence, and in many cases, participate in the destruction and killings.
December 29, 1984
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi wins a landslide victory in the elections following the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi, and the pogroms against the Sikhs. Gandhi’s electioneering references the Sikhs as a threat to the nation, ignoring the massacre perpetrated on the Sikhs after his mother’s assassination. Congress (I) advertisements show two Sikhs in uniform shooting at Mrs. Gandhi, or barbed wire with the caption: “Will the country’s border finally be moved to your doorstep?”
1985
The Indian government enacts the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) of 1985 to help fight militancy in Punjab. TADA establishes in camera courts and authorizes detention of persons in a “disturbed area” based on mere suspicion. Under TADA, detainees are presumed guilty until proven innocent; they are prohibited bail even if the detainee has not been charged after ninety days. TADA is set to expire in two years.
April 26, 1985
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi appoints Supreme Court Justice Ranganath Misra to head the inquiry into the violence against the Sikhs after Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination.
July 24, 1985
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Akali leader Sant Harchand S. Longowal agree to an accord, including provisions for an inquiry commission into the November 1984 pogroms, rehabilitation for soldiers who had revolted subsequent to Operation Bluestar, and the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. (Chandigarh still remains a Union Territory). The government removes the disturbed area status placed on Punjab.
August 20, 1985
Harchand S. Longowal is assassinated.
September 1985
The Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections lead to the formation of the Barnala government. Sikh militants boycott the elections.
September 12, 1985
The General Secretary of Citizens for Democracy and the printer who published Report to the Nation: Oppression in Punjab are charged with sedition and jailed.
The government drops legal proceedings against Associated Press reporter Brahma Chellaney, for his June 1984 report, returning his passport which it had impounded eight months earlier and renewing his press credentials, upheld since January 1, 1985.
February 1986
The Thakkar Commission, established two weeks after Indira Gandhi’s assassination to investigate the attack, releases its report to the government. The Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 was amended to prevent the sharing of the report with Parliament. The report is confidential and not released to the public.
May 1986
The Tiwana Commission releases its report on its investigation into the detention of 92 individuals who were taken from Nabha Jail to Ladha Kothi Jail, Sangrur, for purposes of torture. They were detained during the Indian army’s June 1984 attack on gurudwaras in Punjab and held until mid-1985 under the National Security Act. Finding a systematic practice of torture, the Tiwana report concludes: “It appears that the sole purpose of declaring the Interrogation Center a Jail at Ladha Kothi was the torture of prisoners by Police Officers who remained posted at that place.” The Tiwana Commission also details the execution of 257 persons during the army’s storming of Dukhniwaran Gurudwara, Patiala, during the June 4, 1984 army attack.
February 1987
The Indian government tables the Misra Commission report, on the November 1984 Sikh pogroms, before Parliament. The report angers the Sikh community and human rights activists for its white-washing of the role of senior police officers and politicians in inciting and organizing the violence against the Sikhs. The government appoints three more committees to study certain aspects of the 1984 massacre.
1987
The Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) of 1985 expires, but Parliament passes the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) of 1987. (Although TADA was set to expire in two years, it was renewed in 1989, 1991, and 1993.)
May 11, 1987
The central government dismisses Chief Minister Barnala and institutes President’s Rule, although the state assembly is not dissolved.
June 9, 1987
Parliament amends the National Security Act, 1980, again, adding Article 14A, applicable to Punjab and Chandigarh. Article 14A lists circumstances in which individuals may be detained for periods longer than three months without obtaining the opinion of Advisory Boards.
March 6, 1988
The central government dissolves the Punjab state assembly, with Delhi now having complete direct rule over Punjab.
March 1988
Parliament passes the 59th amendment to the Indian Constitution, providing for the declaration of a state of emergency in Punjab whenever “internal disturbance” threatens “the integrity of India.” The amendment also allows for the suspension of the rights to life and liberty, habeas corpus, freedoms of speech and association, and the guarantee of fundamental rights.
April 24, 1988
Reporter Dhiren Bhagat produces an exclusive report in the Observer of London about the role of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in smuggling 23 boxes of arms, ammunition and rocket-launchers from Kabul. The weapons had arrived on November 19, 1987, addressed to a non-existent “Director General of Communications.” Airport officials started to conduct an inventory of the boxes, until a RAW operative intervened and took the boxes with him. Subsequently, newspapers reported the use of rocket-launchers in Punjab.
April 26, 1988
The Supreme Court orders officers of the Punjab government to act against the 21 Punjab police officers identified as having tortured detainees at Ladha Kothi jail in Sangrur in 1984 and 1985. The Secretary to the Punjab Government maintains the government’s inability to act. The police officers are never brought to account.
May 1988
Operation Black Thunder: The National Security Guard launches a major offensive at 100 armed men inside the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar, Punjab.
January 6, 1989
After a High Court confirms the death sentences handed down to Kehar Singh and Satwant Singh, for their alleged roles in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the government executes them.
February 1989
In a judicial investigation, Justice S.S. Sodhi of the Punjab and Haryana High Court finds that many detainees are tortured in Amritsar jail while held there in illegal detention, prior to formal arrest.
The Indian Express publishes excerpts from the confidential Thakkar Commission report, pointing suspicion towards Indira Gandhi’s special assistant R.K. Dhavan, who was also present when Gandhi was assassinated. Dhavan posted the assassins close to Indira Gandhi and changed the time of Gandhi’s interview with actor Peter Ustinov, where Gandhi was going when assassinated. Instead of following up on evidence in the Commission’s report, the government charges four Sikh leaders, including Simranjit Singh Mann, for conspiring to assassinate Gandhi.
March 1989
Several hundred detainees, held at Jodhpur Jail since the Indian Army’s June 1984 attack on the Golden Temple, are released.
The Home Minister announces that from 1987 to March 1989, 7,969 people in Punjab were detained under TADA.
August 30, 1989
The Director General of Police, Punjab, issues an order promising rewards of Rs. 25,000 [US $1390] for the “liquidation” of 53 alleged terrorists.
November 1989
In the ninth Lok Sabha elections, Sikh militants participate and win. The cases against Simranjit Singh Mann and other Sikh leaders, for conspiring to assassinate Indira Gandhi, are withdrawn.
December 1989
The Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament, votes in favor of repealing the 59th amendment.
March 1990
Parliament amends the Indian constitution to allow for the extension of President’s Rule in Punjab. The 64th Amendment reduces the period of President’s Rule from one year to six months.
April 5, 1990
The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, votes in favor of repealing the 59th Amendment. The 59th Amendment is thus repealed.
April 1990
Parliament amends the Indian constitution to allow for the extension of President’s Rule in Punjab for another six months, effective May 10.
The Attorney General states in April 1990 that the order by the Punjab Director General of Police for the liquidation of 53 alleged militants has lapsed.
October 4, 1990
Parliament extends President’s Rule in Punjab for yet another six months, starting November 10, instituting the 76th amendment to the Constitution.
March 26-27, 1991
The UN Human Rights Committee examines India’s compliance record with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
June 14, 1991
Punjab is declared a “disturbed area” under the Disturbed Areas Act, 1983.
August 12, 1991
Parliament votes to extend the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for another two years.
September 12, 1991
Human rights advocate Ranbir Singh Mansahia of Bhatinda is abducted by Punjab police and disappears.
September 18, 1991
Parliament extends President’s Rule in Punjab for another six months, effective November 11.
A September 1991 amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure protects public servants, including security forces, from prosecution for acts committed during their official duties in states under President’s Rule, unless sanctioned by the central government.
November 1991
KPS Gill, Director General of Police, Punjab, launches the police counter-insurgency movement Operation Rakshak II. Human Rights Watch (HRW) describes Operation Rakshak II as “the most extreme example of a policy in which the end appeared to justify any and all means, including torture and murder.”
Punjab is again declared a disturbed area.
January 3, 1992
Ram Singh Billing, a reporter and district representative of the Punjab Human Rights Organization, is abducted by the police and disappears.
February 19, 1992
Elections are held in Punjab, after a gap of four years during which Punjab was under direct rule from Delhi. The Akali Dal boycotts the elections.
February 25, 1992
President’s Rule in Punjab is lifted.
September 25, 1992
Human rights advocate Jagwinder Singh is forcibly abducted and disappeared by the police in Kapurthala.
December 25, 1992
Police arrest Sikh religious leader Jathedar Gurdev Singh Kaunke from his home in Kaunke village in Ludhiana district.
January 2, 1993
The police concoct a story that Jathedar Kaunke escapes while being taken to recover an arms supply. Instead, the police extrajudicially execute Jathedar Kaunke.
January 25, 1993
After reporting to a police station, human rights lawyer Kulwant Singh, his wife, and their two year old child disappear.
1993
Parliament passes the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, paving the way for the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission.
February 6, 1993
The Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association goes on strike to demand a judicial inquiry into the disappearance of advocate Kulwant Singh, his wife, and their two year old child. The District Bar Associations of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh later join the strike, paralyzing the judiciary in these areas.
March 19, 1993
After a public interest petition is filed on behalf of the disappearance of advocate Kulwant Singh and his family, a full bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismisses the case as withdrawn, over strong objections.
May 1993
Parliament extends the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) for another two years.
October 1993
The government appoints the first members to the National Human Rights Commission, naming retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Ranganath Misra chair of the Commission.
December 7, 1993
In the case of the disappearance of advocate Kulwant Singh, his wife, and their child, the Supreme Court directs the CBI to investigate the case. The Supreme Court is responding to an appeal of the High Court’s March 19 order.
End of 1993
The government lifts the disturbed area status on Punjab.
March 11, 1994
In Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab, the Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).
May 12, 1994
The police arrest and disappear human rights advocate Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti.
January 16, 1995
Jaswant Singh Khalra, general secretary of the Akali Dal's human rights wing, and Jaspal Singh Dhillon release copies of official documents, demonstrating that security agencies in Punjab have secretly cremated thousands of bodies after labeling them as “unidentified/ unclaimed.” Khalra and Dhillon state that these are the bodies of those who have been abducted and forcibly disappeared by state security forces. Their research is based on an investigation of the records of three crematoria in Amritsar district.
January 1995
Khalra's organization files a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, asking for an investigation into the disappearances and subsequent cremations. The high court dismisses the petition on grounds that it is "vague" and that the petitioner organization lacks the standing to file the petition.
April 3, 1995
The Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab (CIIP) moves the Supreme Court of India, in a writ petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, to demand a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations of disappearances and subsequent illegal cremations by the police in Punjab.
May 1995
Parliament lets the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) lapse. Individuals can still be held under TADA, however, if the alleged crime was committed prior to the lapsing of TADA.
July 2, 1995
Given the disappearances of human rights lawyers in Punjab, the Supreme Court issues a protection order for Punjab human rights lawyers.
August 31, 1995
Beant Singh, the Chief Minister of Punjab from February 1992 to 1995, is assassinated. Beant Singh had condoned the systematic human rights violations perpetrated by the state police against civilians in Punjab.
September 6, 1995
Armed commandoes of the Tarn Taran police, Amritsar district, abduct Jaswant Singh Khalra from outside of his house.
September 7, 1995
Paramjit Kaur Khalra, the wife of Jaswant Singh Khalra, secures the help of the Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), which sends telegrams to various people regarding the abduction of her husband. Justice Kuldip Singh, a justice of the Supreme Court of India, receives one of the telegrams.
September 9, 1995
Paramjit Kaur files a habeas corpus petition before the Supreme Court asking that Khalra be produced before the Court.
September 11, 1995
Justice Kuldip Singh of the Supreme Court treats the telegram from the SGPC, regarding the abduction of Jaswant Singh Khalra, as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and directs notice of the petition to the state parties.
November 15, 1995
The Supreme Court directs the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's premier investigative agency, to investigate Jaswant Singh Khalra's abduction as well as the facts contained in Khalra's press note of January 1995, regarding illegal abductions leading to illegal cremations in Punjab.
May 10, 1996
In its second order in the case of the disappearance of advocate Kulwant Singh, his wife, and their two year old child, the Supreme Court reports the CBI’s findings that the police framed a low-level constable with the killings of Kulwant Singh and his family, and the police bought over a witness by giving him a job. The CBI recommended action against now DIG Sanjiv Gupta. The Court recommends suspension of the concerned police officers while the case proceeds at the Designated Court at Chandigarh.
July 22, 1996
The CBI submits an interim report disclosing 984 illegal cremations at one crematorium in Tarn Taran, Amritsar district, between 1984 to 1994. The Supreme Court directs the CBI to continue its investigations and orders it to issue a notice to the public at large seeking assistance in its inquiry.
July 30, 1996
The CBI submits a report stating that nine officers of the Punjab police, acting on the orders of senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajit Singh Sandhu, are responsible for Jaswant Singh Khalra's abduction and disappearance. The Supreme Court directs the CBI to prosecute the officers on charges of conspiracy and “kidnapping with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person.”
December 9, 1996
The CBI submits its fifth and final report to the Supreme Court on the issue of police abductions leading to illegal cremations in Punjab.
December 11, 1996
At the request of the CBI, the Supreme Court orders that the contents of the CBI report be kept confidential, since further investigation has to be undertaken by the agency. The Court directs the CBI to undertake the investigation of all of the cases that are required to be registered as a result of the final report.
December 12, 1996
The Supreme Court, in its order, states that the final report by the CBI disclosed that 2,097 illegal cremations were carried out by the security agencies in three crematoria of Amritsar district. The CBI claims to have fully identified 582 of the bodies so cremated, partially identified 278 bodies so cremated and could not identify 1,238 bodies. The Supreme Court directs the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) “to have the matter examined in accordance with the law and determine all the issues which are raised before the commission by the learned counsel for the parties.” The order clearly states that “Since the matter is going to be examined by the commission at the request of this Court, any compensation awarded shall be binding and payable.”
March 17, 1997
The Punjab Human Rights Commission is established in Punjab.
May 23, 1997
SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu, the lead accused in the abduction of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra, allegedly commits suicide.
August 4, 1997
In the Punjab illegal cremations matter, the NHRC holds that it is a sui-generis designate of the Supreme Court, appointed to carry out the Court's mandate, and vested with all of the powers of the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution. It also concludes that the Supreme Court has referred the whole matter to the Commission, with no territorial or other limits on the inquiry.
October 3, 1997
A “clarification petition” filed by the Union of India before the Supreme Court challenges the NHRC’s recent holding in the Punjab illegal cremations matter and seeks to apply the provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, restricting the statute of limitations to one year, for example.
October 8, 1997
India signs the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. (It has not yet ratified the Convention.)
December 1997
The Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP) calls on the Punjab government to fulfill its election promise and institute a truth commission to investigate human rights abuses committed during the counterinsurgency operations in Punjab.
April 26, 1998
After the Akali government fails to fulfill its election promise, the Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP) announces the formation of the private People’s Commission on Human Rights Violations in Punjab. A former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court chairs the Commission.
March 7, 1998
After successful interim bail applications, the Special CBI Court grants bail to the accused police officers in the case of the disappearance of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra, despite threats shouted at Khalra’s widow, in the presence of the judge. Amnesty International writes, “Three of the accused were already under suspension and facing charges for the ‘disappearance’ of Kuljit Singh in July 1989. One of the three suspended had also been detained in October 1996 in connection with the abduction of a lawyer Kulwant Singh in January 1993. However, this police officer was granted bail by a District and Sessions Judge in 1997 and, despite appeals to the Supreme Court, his bail order remains in force.” (AI, India: A mockery of justice)
July 1998
Police detain Rajiv S. Randhawa, who witnessed the police abduction of Jaswant Singh Khalra from his house on September 6, 1995. Police arrest Randhawa days before he is due to record evidence in the case proceeding against the accused police officers in the Special CBI Court.
The U.N. Human Rights Committee evaluates India’s report on compliance with the ICCPR. The Committee criticizes the government for its use of legislation such as the Disturbed Areas Act, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, and the National Security Act, among other issues.
August 8-10, 1998
The Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP) holds the first sitting of the People’s Commission, attended by a standing-room only crowd.
September 10, 1998
The Supreme Court dismisses the Union government’s clarification petition filed in the Punjab illegal cremations matter. The Court upholds the NHRC’s view of the mandate conferred upon it, stating: “In deciding the matters referred by this Court, the National Human Rights Commission is given a free hand and is not circumscribed by any conditions.”
January 13, 1999
Despite reaffirmation of its original mandate in the Punjab illegal cremations matter, the NHRC passes an order restricting its scope of inquiry to the alleged unlawful cremations of 2,097 bodies in three crematoria in Amritsar district—one out of 17 districts in Punjab. It rejects the argument that the Commission should take a more expansive view under which forced disappearances, extra-judicial executions, and other allegations of human rights violations throughout the state would be investigated.
March 24, 1999
In the Punjab illegal cremations matter, the NHRC dismisses the application of the Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab (CIIP) seeking a review of the January 13, 1999 order. The Commission adopts a two-pronged approach: (1) to invite claims from members of the affected public, and (2) to require the state of Punjab to explain each case of alleged illegal cremation in the crematoria of the three police districts of Amritsar.
June 1999
Kuldip Singh, an eye-witness to the murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra, testifies that the police threatened him, ordering him to withdraw his statement filed with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
August 5, 1999
In the Punjab illegal cremations matter, the NHRC rejects the CIIP’s application for disclosure and inspection of the reports produced by the CBI, containing the results of the investigation conducted by the CBI, on the ground that it might hamper “smooth investigation.”
August 24, 1999
CIIP applies to the Supreme Court for a clarification of the mandate conferred upon the NHRC by the Court’s order of December 12, 1996 in the Punjab illegal cremations matter. The application stresses that the illegal disposal of bodies was not confined to three cremation grounds in Amritsar, and that the starting point of the investigation has to be the allegation of disappearance. The CIIP also prays for access to the CBI’s report.
October 11, 1999
The Supreme Court rejects the CIIP’s application and holds that it is not prepared to interfere with the proceedings being conducted before the NHRC, in the Punjab illegal cremations matter, at this stage. In disappointment, the CIIP thus withdraws from active participation in the proceedings before the NHRC, although it continues to monitor the hearings.
December 20, 1999
In response to a petition filed by advocate Sudershan S. Goel, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana bans the People’s Commission. Goel had accused the Commission of creating havoc (although there had been no law and order problem), diminishing police morale, inciting enmity, setting up a parallel judicial system, and serving as a front for foreign interests, attaching letters from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International as evidence. The High Court bans the People’s Commission for allegedly setting up a parallel judicial system.
March 20, 2000
Armed men massacre 35 Sikh men in the village of Chittisinghpora in Jammu and Kashmir. Five days later, police claim they have caught the “foreign mercenaries” who perpetrated the violence. Two weeks later, the bodies of these five men are exhumed and it is discovered that they were innocent Kashmiris, who had disappeared.
May 2000
The Supreme Court upholds the High Court’s December 20, 1999 order banning the People’s Commission.
May 10, 2000
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government appoints another commission of inquiry into the 1984 pogroms against the Sikhs, chaired by Supreme Court Justice G.T. Nanavati.
July 2000
The Punjab Human Rights Commission rules that the charges filed against Rajiv S. Randhawa, key witness in the Jaswant Singh Khalra disappearance case, were concocted. The police were harassing Randhawa in order to intimidate him from giving evidence in the case.
August 18, 2000
In the Punjab illegal cremations matter, the NHRC endorses the offer of the Punjab government to compensate 18 families with Rs. 100,000 each (approximately US$2,000) without admission of wrongdoing or prosecution of officials. The commission’s order states, “For this conclusion it does not matter whether the custody was lawful or unlawful, or the exercise of power of control over the person was justified or not; and it is not necessary even to identify the individual officer or officers responsible/concerned.” After reading this order, the CIIP intervenes. It travels throughout Punjab to meet the families of the 18 disappeared persons. All of the families unanimously reject the Punjab government’s offer of compensation without determination of liability and state so in an affidavit.
September 2000
For the second time, police detain Rajiv S. Randhawa, who witnessed the abduction of Jaswant Singh Khalra from his house on September 6, 1995. Like the first time, police arrest Randhawa days before he is due to record evidence in the case proceeding against the accused police officers in the Special CBI Court.
December 2000
HKL Bhagat, Minster of State for Information and Broadcasting and Master of Parliament during the 1984 pogroms against the Sikhs, was cited as one of the main organizers and instigators of the carnage. He is acquitted in the last case against him. Later, Darshan Kaur, whose husband was killed by Bhagat, appeals the case.
January 13, 2001
The CIIP files the affidavits of the 18 families rejecting compensation before the NHRC, along with an application stating that the case before the Commission can not be narrowed down to the claims received because, by its January 13, 1999 order, the commission has bound itself to investigate all of the 2,097 cremations carried out at the three cremation grounds in Amritsar district.
February 15, 2001
The NHRC reaffirms its commitment to investigate all of the 2,097 cremations, thereby restoring the Punjab illegal cremations matter to its position after the January 13, 1999 order.
August 18, 2001
Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani announces a proposal to give blanket amnesty to policemen facing prosecution for human rights abuses committed during the counter-insurgency operations in Punjab, Kashmir and the North-East. Advani is responding to announcements made by retired Punjab police officials who threatened to return their medals if the government did not drop all cases against them. The Communist Party of India and the Congress Party welcome the proposal and promise to withdraw all cases pending against police officers if they are elected to power.
August 29, 2001
A TADA Court hands down a death sentence to Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, for his alleged role in the 1993 bombing of the Youth Congress Office, resulting in the deaths of 12 people. Bhullar was arrested in January 1995 after Germany deported him. The TADA court finds him guilty solely on the basis of his confession, extracted under police pressure and later retracted by Bhullar.
October 15, 2001
The central government approves the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), giving Indian police sweeping powers of arrest and detention. POTO resembles TADA in many of its provisions. On October 24, the President signs POTO making it temporarily enforceable.
December 2001
Devinderpal Singh Bhullar appeals the death sentence to the Supreme Court.
December 13, 2001
Armed militants attack the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament.
March 22, 2002
The Supreme Court upholds the death sentence against Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, who was sentenced to death on August 29, 2001. The Supreme Court’s decision is not unanimous—the senior most judge dissents. Although the Supreme Court traditionally does not uphold death sentences without a unanimous decision, they discard this convention in the case of Bhullar.
March 26, 2002
The Indian government enacts the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), drawing upon many provisions of the lapsed Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA).
April 3, 2002
Australia’s SBS Dateline program airs “Who Killed the Sikhs?” The program explores the disappearance of Jaswant Singh Khalra and developments in the NHRC case, featuring interviews with victim families and Punjab police officials. The program also airs a clip from Ram Narayan Kumar’s film Disappearances in Punjab, where Kumar interviews the chief medical officer of Tarn Taran who boasts about having instituted the five-minute post mortem.
December 17, 2002
Bhullar’s counsel files a review petition which is heard by the same judges as before. By a majority decision, the Supreme Court denies review and upholds their original decision. The same judge dissents.
December 23, 2002
Sajjan Kumar, Master of Parliament during the 1984 pogroms against the Sikhs and cited by survivors as one of the instigators and organizers of the violence, is acquitted in the last case from the violence pending against him.
March 12, 2003
The Supreme Court rejects another petition filed by Devinderpal Singh Bhullar’s counsel that questioned the validity of its non-unanimous judgments upholding the death penalty.
May 23, 2003
The Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP) releases volume one of its final report: Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. Published by the South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR), this report contains extensive documentation and analysis of 672 cases of forced disappearances and extrajudicial executions of victims by the security forces in Punjab from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, as well as an analysis of the NHRC case and impunity.
December 10, 2003
Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch file an 81-page amicus curiae brief on behalf of the petitioners in the NHRC case. The brief urges the Commission to investigate fully and in accordance with international law the 2,097 illegal cremations ordered by the State during Punjab’s ten-year period of unrest. To date, the NHRC has failed to examine vital relevant evidence in its investigations regarding the matter, the amicus petitioners argue.
January 9, 2004
The Association of Families of the Disappeared in Punjab (AFDP) conducts its inaugural meeting, attended by over 500 families from Amritsar, Punjab. AFDP is dedicated to the protection, promotion and enforcement of human rights, principally the rights to the end of impunity and reparation of victim families of enforced disappearances and arbitrary executions in Punjab. AFDP is guided and motivated by the principles of truth, justice and accountability.
January 19, 2004
The CIIP hosts a panel at the World Social Forum titled: “Fighting Impunity: Perspectives from Victim Families and Human Rights Defenders.” The panel includes victims and defenders from Punjab, Kashmir, Gujarat and Nagaland, as well as human rights activists such as Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. Paramjit Kaur Khalra, widow of Jaswant Singh Khalra, speaks on behalf of Punjab victim families.
January 23, 2004
The CIIP and AFDP co-host a press conference by Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. Adams expresses concern over the inordinate delay in the proceedings of the Punjab illegal cremations matter, pending before the NHRC for eight years.
February 2004
The Delhi High Court issues a non-bailable warrant against HKL Bhagat, in response to Darshan Kaur’s appeal in the case regarding the murder of her husband during the 1984 pogroms against the Sikhs. Bhagat is ordered to appear before the court on July 19.
February 29, 2004
The Central Government appoints PC Sharma, former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, as a member of the National Human Rights Commission, prompting protests from civil rights organizations. Although the Supreme Court asks the government to respond to the challenges, it does not stay the appointment.
March 17, 2004
In the Punjab mass cremations matter, the National Human Rights Commission orders the Punjab government to publish a notice in May, soliciting affidavits. The publication must include the CBI lists and the names of victims already identified in the proceedings.
April 6, 2004
The Delhi High Court asks the Central Bureau of Investigation to explain why it delayed filing an appeal against Sajjan Kumar in a case relating to the 1984 pogroms.
April 2004
The Congress party chooses Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar as candidates in the upcoming election, despite their role in the 1984 pogroms.
Ensaaf—a U.S.-based organization working to end impunity and achieve justice in India—is launched.
April 26, 2004
After the Union government promises to return materials, the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposes of a petition calling for the government to return artifacts, documents, and other materials stolen from the Sikh Reference Library and Museum in the Golden Temple complex in June 1984 prior to the Indian Army attack. However, the materials have not yet been returned.
May 10, 2004
The election for India’s lower parliamentary house, the Lok Sabha, ends. Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, widely cited as perpetrators in the 1984 pogroms against Sikhs by survivors and witnesses, both win in their constituencies.
May 2004
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appoints as ministers two people identified as perpetrators of the 1984 massacre of Sikhs by survivors and witnesses: Kamal Nath, accused of leading the mob that attacked and destroyed Gurudwara Rakab Ganj and burned alive several Sikhs inside, is appointed Minister for Commerce and Industry, and Jagdish Tytler is the Minister of State for Non-Resident Indian affairs.
June 30, 2004
Ensaaf releases its report “Twenty Years of Impunity: The November 1984 Pogroms of Sikhs in India.” This report, with a preface by former New York Times reporter Barbara Crossette, analyzes thousands of pages of previously unavailable affidavits, government records and arguments submitted to the 1985 Misra Commission, discusses administrative and judicial impunity, and applies the international law of genocide and crimes against humanity to the pogroms.
July 16, 2004
The Delhi High Court allows the Central Bureau of Investigation to appeal against the acquittal of MP Sajjan Kumar in the last case against him, arising from the 1984 pogroms of Sikhs.
July 19, 2004
After an order from the National Human Rights Commission in the Punjab mass cremations matter, the government publishes notices in newspapers throughout Punjab soliciting claims from survivors of disappearances by Punjab police during the counterinsurgency.
July 26, 2004
The Central Government extends the term of the Nanavati Commission’s inquiry into the 1984 pogroms against Sikhs from August 2, 2004, to November 2, 2004.
September 2004
The Central Government decides to repeal the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA); Human Rights Watch calls on the government to dismiss all pending POTA cases and release detainees held under POTA.
Ensaaf appears as Amicus Curiae (friend of the Court) in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Kulvir Singh Barapind, in his challenge to India's extradition request. addresses primary and secondary research that the Indian government targets political activists for implication in criminal cases based on falsified evidence, often extracted under torture; Barapind's experiences of torture by the Punjab police; and the role of the officer making the extradition request in perpetrating arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial execution and/or disappearance.
September 23, 2004
The National Human Rights Commission holds its first hearing after beginning the collection of claims in the Punjab mass cremations matter, and extends the time for filing claims.
October 10, 2004
The Central Government orders the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to trace the texts that were looted from the Sikh Reference Library by the Indian Army in 1984.
November 2004
On November 15, in the Punjab mass cremations matter, the National Human Rights Commission announces a reward of 2.5 lakhs (around $5,500) to 109 families whose next of kin had been illegally cremated by the police, with no admission of liability or inquiry into the facts. The police merely admitted custody of these 109 victims, but maintained that the detainees were killed in the cross-fire after militants attacked police convoys searching for hidden weapons. Petitioners insist that police extrajudicially executed the victims and call for an investigation into liability for those killings and cremations.
December 30, 2004
The term for the Nanavati Commission is extended until the end of January 2005.
January 2005
The Punjab Chief Minister announces his intention to appoint SS Virk as Director General of Punjab Police. Virk’s record of human rights violations spurs controversy and opposition.
Human rights organizations send a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh demanding the removal of Patiala Inspector General Rajinder Singh for harassing and intimidating witnesses in the Jaswant Singh Khalra abduction trial.
January 18, 2005
Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar tells reporters that the Delhi police forced him to confess to committing the September 11, 1993 blast outside the Indian Youth Congress Building that killed nine people, and that the police used this forced confession to build a fabricated case against him.
February 1, 2005
Despite the controversy surrounding his appointment, SS Virk assumes the post of Director General of Punjab Police.
February 2, 2005
Rajiv Singh, a key witness in the Jaswant Singh Khalra abduction trial, identifies the police officers facing trial as those who dragged Khalra out of his house in Amritsar and abducted him. Rajiv Singh also lists several false cases that the police filed against him in the past five years to prevent him from testifying in court.
February 9, 2005
The Nanavati Commission submits its report on the 1984 pogroms of Sikhs to Home Minister Shivraj Patil. The Home Minister reveals that the report does not indict the top Congress leadership.
February 16, 2005
Key witness Kuldeep Singh testifies in the Jaswant Singh Khalra disappearance trial, implicating the highest police officer in Punjab at the time of the murder: KPS Gill. Kuldeep Singh states that Gill interrogated Khalra at the residence of Senior Superintendent of Police Ajit Sandhu prior to Khalra’s murder.
March 2, 2005
Defense lawyers examine witness Kuldeep Singh in the Jaswant Singh Khalra abduction trial.
The court dismisses two application demanding that KPS Gill be issued summons in the Jaswant Singh Khalra abduction trial. The two applications had been filed by Kuldeep Singh and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Brigade through Naresh Kumar, but the court dismisses the applications on the grounds that only the prosecution or the complainant in the case can file such applications.
March 24, 2005
Brijinder Singh Sodhi, prosecution lawyer in the Jaswant Singh Khalra disappearance trial, reports that one of the accused police officers in the case threatened him and that he received several threatening phone calls over the past week. The prosecution also files an application to summon Kikar Singh to court, an earlier witness who had turned hostile after spending two and a half years in police detention because of implication in five false criminal cases.
May 5, 2005
The National Human Rights Commission holds a hearing in the Punjab mass cremations matter. Justice Anand, Chairperson of the Commission, indicates that the next hearing on July 5 will conclude the case, despite the Commission’s failure to address thousands of claims of illegal cremations and violations of fundamental human rights. Further, he states that he sees no need to investigate each claim, even though the Punjab police and the petitioners have given drastically conflicting accounts on the fate and the status of the victims.
May 13, 2005
The Parliament session ends without the tabling of the Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 pogroms of Sikhs, despite assurances by the Law Minister and the Home Minister.
May 22, 2005
The Delhi High Court orders the Central Government to pay Rs 1.23 lakh in compensation to each person who was injured during the 1984 pogroms of Sikhs.
July 5, 2005
The National Human Rights Commission holds a hearing in the Punjab mass cremations matter, but does not conclude the case as it earlier stated it would. However, the Commission repeats its intention to limit its investigation into whether the cremations occurred according to proper procedure, ignoring the question of whether the police unlawfully deprived the victim of his life and inflicted other human rights abuses on surviving family members.
July 25, 2005
During a hearing of the Jaswant Singh Khalra abduction trial, Judge Ravinder Singh is summoned to make a statement based on the statements of Kuldeep Singh, the key witness in the case.
August 8, 2005
One day before the deadline expires, the Indian government tables the final report of the Nanavati Commission investigating the 1984 pogroms of Sikhs, and its Action Taken Report. The Nanavati report exonerates the majority of the perpetrators from the Congress party and the Delhi police who had been identified by victims and witnesses. The government stalls or refuses to take action against those leaders who the Commission finds credible evidence against. Hundreds of victims take to the streets in New Delhi in protest.
August 9, 2005
Both houses of Parliament shut down after the opposition threatens to shut down legislative proceedings in reaction to the Nanavati report and the Action Taken Report.
August 2005
Police use water canons to attack survivors of the 1984 massacres of Sikhs protesting the Nanavati Commission Report. Union Minister Jagdish Tytler resigns.
August 11, 2005
Sikh Prime Minister Manmohan Singh apologizes for the 1984 pogroms, but still maintains that the massacres were not organized by senior political and police officials.
MP Sajjan Kumar, implicated in the Nanavati report, resigns as Delhi rural board chief.
August 13, 2005
The Central government forms two committees to inquire into issues relating to relief and rehabilitation for survivors of the 1984 pogroms of Sikhs. One Committee, led by Special Secretary in the Home Ministry KP Singh, will inquire into the "adequacy and uniformity" of compensation, while the second committee will inquire into "providing additional employment" to survivors and will be led by D.K. Shankaran, Secretary, Border Management in the Home Ministry. Both committees are given two months to complete their tasks.
August 17, 2005
The Delhi High Court is forced to adjourn a hearing because the prosecuting authority is unprepared to argue its appeal to the 2002 acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in a case arising from the 1984 pogroms of Sikhs.
September 6, 2005
On the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, Ensaaf, Human Rights Watch, and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and the New York University School of Law send a joint letter and background packet to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus urging it to hold hearings into “disappearances” and killings and urge the Indian government to comply with its obligations under international law to provide justice and redress to the victims of human rights violations committed by its security forces.
