The Tribune’s Coverage of Punjab Disappeared Screening in Delhi – “Film on Missing Youth of Punjab Calls for Justice”

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Film on missing youth of Punjab calls for justice

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 26

A documentary on the alleged disappearances of thousands of youth from Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s was screened in Delhi here on Friday evening seeking to reignite the spark to seek justice for the victims.

Satnam Singh Bains, a barrister in the United Kingdom and human-rights activist, making the opening statement, said: “This documentary takes you to the deepest and darkest hour of Punjab. It’s about the desire to seek justice and renew the spark for justice for the disappearances that took place between 1984 and 1995”.

He quoted the Khalra Commission that documented 8,257 killings. “Victims were killed and cremated as unidentified”, he said. The documentary claimed the extra-judicial killings were done by the “Punjab Police, paramilitary and the armed forces”.

The 70-minute documentary follows the story of victims of alleged disappearances and extrajudicial killings, whose bodies were secretly cremated in a decade of armed conflict. The victims’ ongoing fight for justice highlights the work of a murdered human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra, and a 10-year investigation that has uncovered new evidence of thousands of previously unknown secret cremations from which victims have been identified.

The documentary highlights the determination and resilience of the victims in their two-decade-long struggle before the courts for the truth, justice and accountability.

During the 1980s and 1990s, as the Khalistani movement for a separate homeland for Sikhs gained traction, an unprecedented rise in insurgency and violence was witnessed. In response, the state carried out several counterinsurgency operations, leading to massive rights violations. The true extent of this violence is slowly surfacing in the public domain, claims the group ‘Punjab Disappeared’ which has worked on the documentary.

Presents new evidence

The documentary looks at extra-judicial killings and mass cremations in the state during the 1980s and 1990s. It presents new evidence of previously unknown killings, cremations and disappearances.

 

Read the original article on The Tribune website here.

 

The Call of the Nation

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The Call of the Nation

 

Sarah Ahmad | 25 APRIL, 2019

We absorb, we pray, we ache, we vote, we live

Five Years, and I’ve had it, can’t bear another five, yet I live in the fear that it might be inevitable, and they will be back; but also, in the hope that this too shall pass. Yet change is not easy to come by, and when it does it can be catastrophic; winters have warm uncertain days, summer has cold brutal rains, autumn peculiar flowers, and leaves fall in spring.

The same applies to our political state, our social outlook, or electoral rights. When our fear comes to life, that a little typhoon near the coast has finally made its way inland, in the depths of a land locked town, burning at the touch. When we don’t take care of our environment we bear its brunt, yet many celebrate its annihilation like the advent of a miraculous spirit.

An eccentric event, hosted in New Delhi by a collaboration of community development organisations, Those in Need and Our Voix, is about liberation and emancipation. The event called The Global Bubble Parade is about defining the power of one’s voice. Its central aim is to make people raise their voice, share stories where it or collective voices have had an impact. It is a peaceful walk of soapy bubbles and music, engaging participants and encouraging them to break their bubble of self-consciousness.

A film – The Magnificent Journey: Times and Tales of Democracy – brings to light the landscape of our times in and how the idea of democracy is under severe threat. The film celebrates democracy for its ambition, the engagement and the excitement it generates, while also identifying the many challenges it faces. Directed by Abhijit Banerjee and Ranu Ghosh, it draws upon unique footage from hundreds of conversations with would be voters and local leaders in various towns and villages of north India, with all the humour, passion and intellectual depth that the participants bring to their decisions.

And Punjab Disappeared – a documentary following the work of the Punjab Documentation and Advocacy Project, uncovers the decade of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and mass secret cremations that took place in Punjab. Thousands of people, mainly young Sikh men and boys, disappeared after being abducted by the Punjab police, were murdered in staged encounters and their bodies cremated as unidentified. You can watch a trailer here.

Change is coming, yet there is a chance of no change. We might witness the further extension of the world we live in today, an expansion of the fear we face, pain and feebleness the marginalised encounter. Still, we move on. Leaves fall, winds become hurricanes, humans become beasts, yet we absorb, we pray, we ache, we vote, we live.

. The Global Bubble Parade: 26th May, 3pm-6pm, at Lodi Gardens, Lodi Road, New Delhi

. The Magnificent Journey: Times and Tales of Democracy on 30th April, 6:30 pm, at the India International Centre, New Delhi

. Punjab Disappeared, followed by a panel discussion, on 26th April 5:30 pm at Jawahar Bhavan, RSVP over email or Facebook.

 

Read the original article on TheCitizen.in website here.

‘Punjab Disappeared’ The world premiere of the documentary

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‘Punjab Disappeared’ The world premiere of the documentary

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Delhi Film Screening and Discussion – 26th of April 2019. 5:30 pm

Jawahar Bhavan (opposite Shastri Bhavan) Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi,

Link to the trailer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rONhLvZXqII&t=34s

About the Film:

Punjab Disappeared is a documentary which uncovers the decade of enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and mass secret cremations that took place in Punjab.  Thousands of people, mainly young Sikh men and boys, disappeared after being abducted by the Punjab police, murdered in staged encounters and their bodies cremated as unclaimed and unidentified.

 The film traces the work of the Punjab Documentation and Advocacy Project furthering the pioneering work of murdered Punjab activist Jaswant Singh Khalra in identifying over 8000 cases of enforced disappearances and secret cremations from new investigations, and gives fresh impetus to the survivors 25 year struggle for justice.

For years, the voices of the families of those disappeared remained silenced. The documentary explores the complexities of mass state violence in India which is interwoven with their determined voices and the unacknowledged collective trauma shared with other genocide survivors.

The film narrates, primarily through moving contemporary accounts given by bereaved relatives, of how over thousands of young Punjabi men and in some cases women, were abducted by police or security forces and never seen again. The stories of the disappeared, and their families’ subsequent struggle to find answers to the question ‘what happened to our loved ones?’

The documentary critiques the significance of the Punjab conflict and whether lessons from Punjab were learned in the context of contemporary mass state violence in India: Midnight knocks, people are taken, never to be heard from again and the multi layered actions taken to cover these mass crimes.

The Peoples Tribunal  expert panel of activists, lawyers including a retired Supreme Court Judge, critically examine the role played by state institutions and why despite endemic and institutional failures, the struggle for justice and accountability is enduring.

The viewer is taken through an often-emotional journey of grief, fear and despair but ultimately the film carries a message of hope, and resistance.  Expressing solidarity, support and a shared desire for justice, survivors from Manipur, Kashmir and Chhattisgarh ask difficult and searching questions of how the security forces in India are still able to act with impunity, and the relevance of Punjab to the victim families of other conflicts in India. Punjab Disappeared is a clarion call for the State and civil society to take action now, for truth, justice and reparation, and most importantly for non-repetition through the indomitable spirit, dignity and determination of its survivors.

The world premiere of the documentary, followed by a panel discussion is the 26th of April 2019 5:30 pm at the Jawahar Bhavan ( opposite Shastri Bhavan) Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi, tel: 8860 268 853.  Please share with your friends.

 

This article has been reproduced from the original article on the Asian Independent. Read the original article here.