Most of you will know of the case of Professor Davinderpal Singh Jee Bhullar, a Sikh political prisoner who today was moved from the hospital where he was staying to a jail in preparation to be hanged, after the Indian Supreme Court rejected his clemency appeal. If you don't know about this innocent man who will be sent to the gallows, or if you want detailed information on what exactly Bhullar's case is, please visit this page and educate yourselves.
How can you justify the death penalty for a man who has served a life sentence, the majority of which was spent in solitary confinement, whose confession was signed under torture and was later withdrawn, whose alleged crime is not supported by any solid eyewitness accounts or reliable evidence, whose case involved 133 witnesses, all of which could not identify him, who suffered a mental breakdown due to the atrocities committed against him, who, before being moved to a jail to be hanged, was residing in a hospital?
India, your legal system is a joke. The world's largest democracy? Hypocrisy more like... banning a film unveiling the truth about the government, and yet failing to ban the death penalty? You hang the man with a beard and a turban because he tried to expose the truth, and yet you let the killers and rapists who murdered minority groups run your government and walk free?
You're fuelling the revolution, India. You're digging your own grave. If we do celebrate Vaisakhi with a shaheedi this year, rest assured that when one Singh falls, thousands more rise in his place. You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution. The world is watching you... you lose your standing in the world bit by bit every time you commit an atrocity against your minorities. Long Live the Revolution!!
To both my Sikh and my non Sikh brothers and sisters, please watch and share this video. It is an example of the love Humanity shares, regardless or religious, cultural, social, national, political etc. boundaries. If you can't understand Panjabi, I've written a rough translation/ summary below.
A YOUNG HINDU PANJABI SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON THE KILLINGS OF TWO INNOCENT PEACEFUL SIKH PROTESTORS BY THE POLICE AND THE DISGUSTING AND DISRESPECTFUL ACTS OF PROVOCATION OF THE SHIV SENA.
A Hindu Panjabi who has been watching the peaceful protests against the execution of Rajoana is talking about how yesterday a group of Sikh students was fired at by police after being provoked by the Shiv Sena (through burning and stamping on a Sikh's turban), in which two youth, much like himself, were killed. He expresses the distress he felt when he heard about the killing of Jaspal Singh, an 18 year old innocent Sikh student, and Ranjit Singh, who was only 16, who were peacefully protesting. He is deeply upset by the deaths and he expresses the pain he feels for the families. He cannot understand how and why the police can commit such atrocities. He asks his Sikh brothers to see the difference between the Shiv Sena and the rest of the Hindu population. He says that the Shiv Sena supporters cannot call themselves Hindu, and they are tainting the name of Hindus. He was angered that the Shiv Sena could commit such a disgusting act as to disrespect and set fire to a Sikh brother's turban. He requests for his Hindu Brothers not to fall into the trap of the Shiv Sena. He says if anyone is fighting for their justice (i.e. the Sikh Panth), please let them fight. He doesn't understand why the Shiv Sena got involved. Sikhs want justice for the massacres of 1984, and for these shaheeds, from the government, so why are the Shive Sena getting involved? He says these interferences are all just dirty politics. He says if you think Sikhs are bad, then answer this question: When Aurangzeb was forcefully converting the majority Hindu population to Islam, who did we (the Hindus) run to? To Dhan Guru Tegh Bahadur Jee Maharaaj, who was martyed for us. Where was our bravery then? When our sisters and daughters were being abducted, where was our bravery then? Where was the Shiv Sena then? At that time the Sikhs saved us. Now today, when they are being targeted, why are we not standing with them? Although he doesn't personally support Rajoana, he strongly objects to the injustices that occured yesterday with the killings of innocent protesters and the involvement of the Shiv Sena in disrespecting Dastaars. He personally, from the entire Sikh Sangat, puts his hands together and asks for forgiveness, as a Hindu, that people are taking his name of God and committing these disgusting acts. His last message for his Sikh brothers is to please hate the Shiv Sena, not Shiv Ji. They are not Hindus; they are animals taking the name of Hindus. After 27 years there was finally peace in our Panjab, and we were beginning to live in harmony. When the Son of a Mother dies, he's not a Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh, he is simply the Son of a Mother.
This young Hindu should definitely not have to apologise on behalf of these animals, but the point is, you can't paint everyone with the same brush; love and despair crosses religious boundaries.
This is the story of Bhai Balwant Singh Jee Rajoana. The Indian government intends to hang this man. He was the back up assassin of former Chief Minister of Punjab, Beanta, who was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Sikhs.
Why Balwant Singh Rajoana Never Appealed Against His Death Sentence
Ruchi Gupta
Balwant Singh Rajoana was to be executed on March 31. This would have been the first execution in India since 2004. His execution has been stayed - for the time being - in response to the rising whirlpool of politics that's engulfed Punjab on this issue. That India should sully its record again after 8 years with state sanctioned murder is a matter of distress, but this consideration seems largely removed from the politics of Rajoana's execution. However even in addition to principled opposition to the death penalty, the cynical considerations swirling around his execution, the specifics of the case itself are significant.
Opposition to capital punishment is removed from the specifics of the case, basing the argument on human rights, the range and extent of power given to the State, citizen's right to equality before law, the inherent arbitrariness in the exercise of power by individual state functionaries, and irrevocability of the punishment especially given the possibility of wrongful conviction. In contrast, the proponents of capital punishment argue on the specifics, seeking justification in the heinousness of the crime, recidivism, retribution, and deterrence. In this the proponents are almost vigilante in their perspective, with their preoccupation with punishment for the alleged lawbreaker than the state, its powers and processes, and civil liberties
Nevertheless in this instance, the specifics too raise some disturbing questions. Balwant Singh is on death row for his role in the suicide bombing of the former Chief Minister of Punjab,Beant Singhin 1995. 17 persons, including the Chief Minister were killed. The history has some relevance. Punjab had been racked by insurgency since the seventies, with the regional autonomy movement progressively hardening into a secessionist movement over the decades. President's Rule was established in 1987 in the aftermath ofOperation Bluestarand the Sikh pogrom in Delhi in 1984. After five years of President Rule checkered by militancy and heavy police crackdown, elections were called in 1992, but were postponed twice. Protesting that the elections were unlikely to be "free and fair", the Sikh parties boycotted the elections. With voter turnout in the low twenties, Beant Singh's ascendancy was widely disparaged by the Sikhs as lacking legitimacy. Militancy and consequent police clampdown continued unabated. Beant Singh was assassinated in 1995 by suicide bomberDilawar Singh, aided by Balwant Singh and others.
During trial, Balwant Singh refused counsel, asking instead to be allowed to represent himself. He did not cross-examine witnesses. He was awarded the death penalty. In 2009, when his death sentence came for conviction in the High Court [as part of the legal process], he again refused counsel and asked to be allowed to argue his own case. His intent in each instance was not to seek acquittal. In the 14 years that the case made its way from the trial court to the High Court, Balwant Singh held to his story, claiming that he strapped the bomb on to the body of Dilawar Singh. The High Court, noting that there was no evidence in favour of Balwant Singh in order to "have a second thought on the murder reference of Balwant Singh, coupled with his three confessional statements, there is no other alternate with us but to confirm" the death penalty. Balwant also refused to appeal against the death penalty administratively through mercy petition to the Governor and/or President. In a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court, he writes, "legal system, judicial system of this Country and the rulers of this Country have been discriminating" [and that] "slavery of such system is not acceptable to me". In embracing 17 years of imprisonment including solitary confinement and ultimate execution, Balwant Singh is making a political statement.
In his letter and statements, he brings out his search for justice in the democratic framework, his feeling of marginalization and his desire for rebellion. He sees the injustice of the swiftness of response when a five star hotel in Mumbai is under siege and the dilatory tactics of commissioning enquiry committees without any accountability for the thousands who perished in the 1984 Sikh pogrom. He writes, "thousands of Sikhs were massacred. It is submitted that these murderers have neither been punished nor been punished by any Court of law of the country even after 25 years [...] Here I would like to ask your Lordship that the persons who have killed thousands of innocent xxxx, xxxx, and xxxx [redacted] are not the terrorists. Why not the law of the nation, [redacted] try to interfere in the matter. On the contrary, when thehotelsof Mumbai are attacked then the military of the country immediately interferes. The commandos of Delhi initiate immediate action after reaching Delhi. This is made to known as to which in which village the assailants reside in [redacted]. Contrary to it, the [redacted] of [redacted] of people in Delhi could not be identified. How the security can be assured without the law when everybody knows the killers" [sic]. He locates the justification for the suicide bombing in this persecution by the state (as per his contention) and the lack of accountability saying in a statement to the District and Sessions Judge, Patiala, "conscience of a person have self respect refuses to accept the authority of callous rulers. Such feels instigate a person for becoming human bomb rather than to become a human being [sic]"
The purpose of this article is not to romanticize Balwant Singh or terrorism. But surely some introspection is required when an obviously bright individual seeks political expression in the rejection of the "democratic" government itself even at the cost of his own life? Our democratic systems are discriminating - on class, caste, and religious lines. After 64 years of democracy, which by definition means people's control over the state to ensure propagation of their interests, more than 3 quarters of our country still ekes out a living on just Rs 20 per day. In our ostensibly secular state, all significant minorities have been persecuted (1984, 1992, 2002, 2008) without any accountability. Likewise the constitutional promise of equality before rule of law is flouted routinely. The poor are routinely displaced, their rights violated, their very being often declared illegal. The poor overwhelmingly populate our jails; around 70% are under-trials, not convicts. The death penalty too is disproportionately administered to the poor. Balwant Singh's execution is now embroiled in cynical politics from all sides, however whatever the outcome, we all share some blame in perpetuation of a system where meaningful political expression, redress and justice is denied to all but a small minority.
(Ruchi Gupta works in a think tank in Delhi. The views expressed are her own. She can be reached atgupta.ruchi@gmail.com)
