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World Sikh
Organization of Canada Reacts to
'Breaking the Silence'
WSN Network
OTTAWA: The World Sikh Organization of
Canada (WSO) has reacted to a story "Operation Silence" published by
Tehelka.com, saying if the report is correct and Talwinder Singh
Parmar was arrested, interrogated for 4 days and then killed in a
staged encounter, the Punjab Police and Government of India have
some serious questions to answer. Why was Mr. Parmar tortured in
custody during interrogation? Why was Mr. Parmar not tried in a
court of law? What was being covered up by this extra-judicial
killing? The Tehlka report indicates it was to shield the
involvement of Indian agents in the Air India tragedy. If this is
true, it is a shocking shame that must be condemned by the
Government of Canada.
The Tehelka story
repeats a proposition first publicly suggested by authors Zuhair
Kashmeri and Brian McAndrew, two Canadian journalists, in their book
entitled "Soft Target". On June 27, 2007, following the sudden
cancellation of the evidence of two unknown witnesses to the Air
India Inquiry, the WSO called on Justice Major to ensure that the
unidentified witnesses who were to appear at the Inquiry were
protected. With these details emerging that the witnesses were
members of the Punjab Human Rights Organization and a retired
officer of the Punjab Police, the issue of possible harm takes a
completely different meaning. Like human rights activists in the
past, such as Jaswant Singh Khalra who exposed thousands of fake
encounters and illegal murders in custody by the Punjab Police,
these witnesses also face a genuine risk of harm or even death. Mr.
Khalra, following a trip to Canada where he spoke at a Parliamentary
dinner exposing the disappearances in the Punjab, himself fell
victim to the brutal tactics of the Punjab Police and was kidnapped
and killed.
Although stories of
torture and murder by the Punjab Police and Indian authorities are
not new, it is very concerning that these tactics may have been used
to thwart the investigation into the worst aviation disaster in
Canadian history.
The WSO said it was
an intervenor at the Air India Inquiry and has every confidence that
the Commission will fully investigate all the questions raised by
the Tehelka report no matter how uncomfortable they may be and no
matter who might be implicated. “The Sikh community and the Air
India Victims' families have waited 22 years for the truth and we
hope that this wait will not be extended for much longer.”
1 August, 2007
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