Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Jalandhar, May 29 : The Dal Khalsa today demanded that the Indian government should sign, ratify and implement the International Convention for the Protection of all persons from Enforced Disappearance.
On the occasion of the International week of the disappeared, the organization appealed to Sikh religious leaders and gurdwara management across the globe to make special prayers for the victims of forced disappearances.
It is pertinent to mention that the last week of May is recognized internationally as the International Week of the Disappeared- a painful reminder that thousands of families in the world still await information on the fate of their loved ones.
In a statement, party spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh and secretary for human rights Pritpal Singh said according to existing documentation by NGO’s, hundreds of people had been subject to enforced disappearances in Punjab since 1984. There were more than e 2500 cases of cremations of ‘unidentified bodies’ in Amritsar and Tarn Taran district.
They said successive governments in Punjab including the present one were also culpable for both aiding the perpetrators of the crime and the cover-up. Despite a campaign and hue and cry against enforced disappearances for 31 years, no action whatsoever had been taken.
They said the ruling Akali Dal in its election manifesto promised to set up inquiry commission to dig out truth including enforced disappearances, human rights violations and extra-judicial killings. However, no Commission of Inquiry as promised was set up. There had been no effective investigations, what to talk of prosecutions. The issue of illegal cremations and enforced disappearances had been left unaddressed by the government.
They said this refusal by the Akali Dal to investigate enforced disappearance and illegal cremations was a continuing torture for the families of the disappeared.
They said theirs’ organization on Jan , 2015, submitted a memorandum on the issue of enforced disappearances to the US President through American Embassy during Barack Obama’s visit to New Delhi. Seeking international investigation to unearth the involuntary detentions, torture and deaths in fake encounters, it was pointed out that the families in villages throughout Punjab were still searching for relatives who were last seen in police custody and none of the senior security officials or the architects of the crimes had been held accountable.
Reiterating that as per international law, all present and past officials in positions of responsibility must be held accountable for their role in the crimes committed in Punjab, including the numerous enforced disappearances and illegal cremations. Until then, the aggrieved community and victims’ families would continue to struggle for justice.
