Hope butcher of humanity gets death: Freedom fighter’s daughter

“I was praying before Waheguru for this very moment. I hope butcher of humanity — Surinderpal Singh — gets a death sentence, so that I can die in peace,” said Sukhwant Kaur, 82, daughter of a freedom fighter Sulakhan Singh, a companion of Ghadar Party founder Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna.

Sulakhan, 82, along with his son-in-law Sukhdev Singh (Sukhwant’s husband) were picked up from their residence in October 1992.

It was not easy going for the family as they fought a legal battle for 32 years in several courts.

Tragically, Sukhwant lost her father, husband and a son to the atrocities of the Punjab Police during dark days of militancy. Her elder son, Baljinder Singh, was killed in a fake encounter and later cremated as ‘unclaimed’ by cops.

She said her husband and father, who had come to meet them, were picked up by ASI Avtar Singh at the behest of Sarhali SHO Surinderpal Singh in October 1992. They were kept in illegal detention for three days before their mysterious disappearance. The police later claimed that they had never picked them up.

She said her father was lodged in the Lahore jail along with Sohan Singh Bhakna for taking part in ‘Mogha morcha’ against the Britishers for remodelling ‘moghas’ (canal outlets) to decrease water supply to farmers.

Her father-in-law Ujagar Singh, a policeman, was nephew of Baba Gurdit Singh, central figure of the Komagata Maru incident.