SAN FRANCISCO, California—A seminar was held this past week at UC Berkeley, near San Francisco, CA to raise awareness of Human Rights Violations in India. The seminar was organized jointly by the Men and Women of Color Alliance, South Asian Law Students Association, and the UC Berkeley SSA . Speakers included Rajwinder Singh Bains from India, Raji Mangat of Ensaaf organization and Navkiran Kaur Khalra, daughter of Shaheed S. Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Speakers shed light on the history of human rights violations in Punjab starting in the late 70s, continuing until today. In addition, issues such as Chandigarh and river water distribution and socio-economic topics were discussed in depth by the speakers. The life of S. Jaswant Singh Khalra was the main topic discussed by all speakers. S. Jaswant Singh Khalra was a human rights activist who spent his entire life collecting records of fake encounters and illegal cremations done by the Punjab Police in the 80s. Due to his eminent work in this field, he was also tortured and murdered by the Punjab Police.
Current issues of human rights violations were also discussed. The speakers talked about the instigators of 1984 pogroms who are still enjoying high ranks in the Indian Government despite there being credible proof of their involvement in human rights violations. A question and answer session was also held at the end of the seminar, where the attendees asked many questions relating to the issues in Punjab and India.
Rajvinder Singh Bains and Raji Mangat said that those living outside of India can do a lot to help the situation in Punjab. He requested everyone to take part in raising awareness of the human rights issues in Punjab. In particular, major work needs to be done to document these human rights violations. Sevadars are requested to help Ensaaf with documentation.
Mr. Bains further made an interesting comment when he expressed that every policeman who was on duty during the 80s and 90s must prove his or her innocence. This proof must be submitted to embassies when requesting visas. Otherwise, western countries should by default deny entrance to policemen from India as everyone took part in torture in one way or another. He requested that we ask foreign countries to adopt a more compassionate asylum policy for those having experienced human rights violations in India.
