Seeking report into missing inquiry of 1986 killings not new issue: Victims’ families

After the Punjab Assembly had on Tuesday decided to form a committee to trace the missing report in the 1986 killing of four youth in Nakodar by the police, father of one of the victims has termed the move as a diversion tactic of the government.

In statement, Baldev S Littran, father of victim Ravinder Singh Littran, stated, “Raising voice for the 1986 sacrilege in Nakodar and the Justice Gurnam Singh Commission inquiry report along with its missing parts are not new issues. Former AAP leaders HS Phoolka and Kanwar Sandhu were among the first few to raise these concerns strongly in the Punjab Assembly. Later, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema and Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan also raised these issues during their time in the Opposition.”

Notably, in the 1986 incident, four youth were shot dead, allegedly by the police, while protesting desecration of a religious text. The distraught father said, “After being in power for over three-and-a- half years, the AAP leaders are now using this issue cynically to distract from the real matter at hand. Since taking office, they have actively blocked efforts to bring the perpetrators of the Nakodar massacre to justice. We have sent seven letters to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, which were also forwarded to Finance Minister Harpal Cheema and Speaker Sandhwan. Instead of addressing these concerns, they have shielded the perpetrators of the Nakodar police killings.”

He also alleged, “Despite my request to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan on September 29, 2022, the matter was not aptly represented in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, resulting in disposal of both of his petitions on October 7, 2023. These petitions were only possible because of the AAP’s initial support. Despite these repeated efforts, we have yet to receive any tangible response or action on our grievances.”

The four affected families have been waiting for action for 40 years to get justice and accountability. The successive governments had only compounded their pain and anguish, they maintain.

Baldev Singh rued, “The AAP government has not taken a single concrete step to deliver justice in the 1986 case of Nakodar, 2015 Bargari case, or sacrilege cases of Guru Granth Sahib. If there is genuine commitment to justice, order a time-bound CBI inquiry into the 1986 Nakodar killings, the illegal cremation of four unarmed Sikh youth, and the disappearance of Part 2 of the judicial report. File charges and arrest policemen responsible for these atrocities. Without accountability, there is no closure. To this day, not a single perpetrator of Saka Nakodar or Saka Bargari has been brought to justice.”

Jalandhar