Over 8K people disappeared during 1980 till 1995 in Punjab: NGO

Members of the Punjab Documentation and Advocacy Project hold a press conference in Chandigarh on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Chandigarh, December 2

Punjab Documentation and Advocacy Project (PDAP), an NGO, on Saturday claimed that they have found over 8,000 people going “disappeared” during 1980 till 1995 in Punjab and demanded an independent judicial commission to probe the matter.

Satnam Singh Bains, representing PDAP, claimed that they have identified and documented hundreds of victims who were allegedly “cremated as unclaimed unidentified” and killed in “fake encounters”.

“In our seven-year long investigation, we have identified 8,257 persons from different sources who disappeared from 1980 to 1995 in Punjab,” he claimed.

Bains said the records pertaining to “disappeared” people were collected by visiting villages, meeting victims’ family members and also from media reports.

“The latest report is a further step in the long struggle by people of Punjab for justice and accountability for victims and for their kin,” Bains said.

Retired Bombay High Court judge Justice Suresh, who was also present, said, “people disappeared. They (their families) have the right to know why they disappeared. They have the right to know why human right violations took place.”      

People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) national convener Kavita Srivastava, while speaking on the occasion, sought formation of a judicial commission under retired sitting judge of the Supreme Court to probe the “disappearance” of the people.

Bains said they will soon move to the Supreme Court with the findings of their report and demand detailed investigation in the matter.