Dal Khalsa to protest, highlight plight of minorities on Dec 10

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 6

Citing Amnesty International’s recent report stating that India has become a dangerous and unsafe place for human rights defenders and those who are critical of the state, the Dal Khalsa on Thursday said it would hold a march in the city on December 10 to highlight “state atrocities”.

Referring to the dismal plight of minorities and Dalits, the organisation gave a call to all oppressed people to register their protest at their native places on December 10. “The crackdown on human rights defenders, killing of journalists by right-wing groups, mob lynching and trampling of rights of dissenting people are a grave challenge to the freedom to dissent and violates constitutionally guaranteed human rights,” said party spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh.

He said the activists holding placards would march from Quila Mubarak up to the Mini-secretariat where a rally would be held. Party vice-president Hardeep Singh Mehraj said, “Hatred and inequality is on the rise. Respect for international humanitarian and human rights law is on the decline. Space for civil society is shrinking. The freedom of Press is under pressure.”

Party general secretary Paramjit Singh Tanda said the cops who fired at Sikh protesters in Ludhiana on December 2009, Gurdaspur in March 2012 and Behbal Kalan in October 2015, killing Darshan Singh Lohara, Jaspal Singh, Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjeet Singh, respectively, had gone scot-free. Sukhraj Singh, son of the victim of the Behbal Kalan firing, also addressed the meet. The Malwa Youth Federation has decided to extend support to the Dal Khalsa march.