SENIOR Superintendent of Police Narinder Pal Singh is one of the most decorated officers of the Punjab Police, having won three gallantry awards in the campaign against terrorism. He is also credited with one of the worst human rights records, facing criminal charges in five separate cases.
Like Singh, many of the 'lions' who routed terrorism are now seen as fallen heroes of sorts. Take K.P.S. Gill, once an international celebrity. Even before the Supreme Court decides whether or not he can attend the Olympics at Atlanta, a lobby of US senators has demanded that he be denied a visa on the basis of his human rights record. Likewise, SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu, who earned the sobriquet "Saab Bahadur" by cleaning up terrorist-infested Tarn Taran, is under suspension and has had 19 writs filed against him. Thrice-decorated SSP Mohammad Mustafa also faces criminal charges in several cases.
IG (Litigation) K.K.Atre estimates that some 4,000 members of the Punjab Police have been affected by the spate of human rights litigation in the last four years. Already, 1,500 petitions have been filed in various courts—650 in the last year alone—and fresh ones are being moved every day. "We're fighting a losing battle," says Atre.
The cases fall into four broad categories: allegations of fake encounters, of torture and extortion, of involvement in false cases and of persons missing after being picked up by the police. At least 20 IPS officers, including DIGs Sumedh Singh Saini and Sanjeev Gupta, have been charged with human rights violations. Eight SSPs are also on the list. So far, 24 Punjab Police personnel have been jailed and 40 are currently on bail. Nearly 100 face trial. And still, human rights activists in Punjab are far from satisfied.
"From the DGP downwards, no senior Punjab Police officer has a clean human rights record. If an honest government comes to power, none will be spared," declares Justice Ajit Singh Bains, himself a victim of police excesses in the late '80s.
Is the high-handed Punjab Police finally getting its just desserts, or is the human rights slogan being exploited by opportunistic politicians to garner votes? Or isthere, as top police officers claim, a more sinister design? Off the record, the top-most echelons of Punjab Police endorse the view that the human rights slogan is being misused by extremists' sympathisers, who are orchestrating the bulk of litigation. "They are using it as a means to harass and weaken the Punjab Police," is the general refrain.
To quote a police report: "Gurbej Singh, ex-sarpanch, and his companion Samp-ooran Singh are supporters of the Panjwar group...mainly engaged in filing writs against police officers.... Whosoever tries to depose in favour of the police in these writs and enquiries is harassed and threatened by them." The report goes on to describe how a bank employee who deposed in favour of the police in a CBI inquiry pertaining to the mother of terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar was transferred. It also names a state minister who is allegedly assisting Gurbej Singh.
The syndrome of wartime heroes turning peacetime villains and vice-versa should be taken with a pinch of salt, hints newly appointed DGP Sube Singh: "The police is an instrument of the government. Its image depends on the manner in which the government uses it, whether in times of peace or in times of violence."
His appointment in place of O.P. Sharma has been welcomed by the beleaguered force. Sharma, who had promised to give the Punjab Police a humane face, is charged with having "neglected" the litigation cell set up in April 1995 to help police personnel with their cases. Sube Singh, who describes Sharma as a "deskman", will be more supportive, they feel.
Senior officers maintain that it is the 'cream' of the Punjab Police—the very people who actively fought against terrorism—who have been targeted by the various human rights organisations. A senior Punjab Police officer warns: "There is tremendous resentment building up in the ranks against such harassment in the shape of human rights litigation. We are heading towards an explosive situation. If these boys become angry enough, there are some who could well pick up the gun."
He points out that in reviling the Punjab Police, the public has lost sight of the fact that the force paid a heavy price during the war against terrorism. Some 1,700 police personnel died. In July and August of 1992, the families of 560 others were wiped out. Those who escaped terrorist violence lived under tremendous psychological pressures. Bains is not impressed. "What about the 50,000 people the police killed?" he exclaims. "Not all were terrorists. I remember that when SSP Gobind Ram's son was killed, his wife slapped him, saying it was retribution for all the killings he had perpetrated."
He blames former Punjab Police chief J.F. Ribeiro for the excesses committed by the Punjab Police: "He started all this killing in custody when he took over in 1986."
Currently, 70 inquiries based on various writ petitions and press reports are under way, 38 of them by the CBI. Perhaps the most significant is the case concerning activist J.S. Khalra, who disappeared on the morning of April 8 last year, shortly after completing a report alleging that the police had clandestinely burnt as many as 2,500 bodies. There are 1,700 FIRs in this case. Khalra has not been seen again.
Of the 500 writs disposed of by the courts, only a small number have been marked for inquiry. But the time and money expended in court appearances is harassment in itself, claims an officer. Atre maintains that the police does not spare its own people if it believes they are guilty. He cites the case of DSP Baldev Singh and five others who were put in jail. Sube Singh observes: "There may have been some cases of excesses. After all, it took 14 years to battle terrorism. But by and large I believe the police acted according to the law, to save lives and for the sake of the country." Adds Bains: "We don't want to punish the innocent. But there aren't too many."
A senior officer who is facing charges insists the campaign is politically motivated. "The Akalis made capital out of accusing the Centre of state terrorism and now, with elections around the corner, Chief Minister H.S. Brar is letting the activists run riot because he thinks he can hijack the human rights bandwagon. The officers are disenchanted with both the Akalis and with Brar," he claims.
Interestingly, they point to the alleged link between terrorist Paramjit Singh Panj-war and former MP Surinder Singh Kairon, who is related to Brar's wife. During interrogation, Kairon's personal secretary revealed that he had not only sheltered Panjwar but also used his help to get elected.
Whatever the motivation, at the end of the day, the ball is in the judiciary's court. "We are bound to accept the judgement of the courts," says Sube Singh.
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