‘Still searching for truth’: Daughter of Sikh activist killed 30 years ago

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Navkiran Kaur Khalra is reflecting on the life and death of her father, Jaswant Singh Khalra, a Sikh human rights activist killed after his abduction by police in Punjab, India, in September 1995. The story revisits how Khalra investigated allegations that security forces had secretly cremated or disappeared thousands of people during the Punjab insurgency, and how his work made him a prominent critic of state abuses.

According to Al Jazeera, Khalra was taken from outside his home in Amritsar after an ordinary family morning, secretly tortured in custody and later murdered. His body was never found. The report says his wife, Paramjit Kaur Khalra, helped push for accountability, leading to a criminal case in which five police officials are now serving life sentences. The article also places his case in the broader context of the 1980s and 1990s violence in Punjab, including Operation Blue Star and the wider crackdown on Sikh separatism.

The interview with Navkiran Kaur Khalra describes the uncertainty and fear the family lived with after his disappearance, as well as his role at home as a father who balanced activism with family life. She says the family continued searching for him for years, even when authorities denied responsibility. Al Jazeera frames her reflections as part of a longer struggle for truth, justice and closure for many families affected by enforced disappearances in Punjab.

The report also notes renewed attention to Khalra’s legacy through a recent film, Satluj, which was blocked shortly after release on a streaming platform over security concerns, then screened by Sikh groups and rights activists in India and abroad.