Fact Finding Committee - Report into Ludhiana Law & Order Issues 4-5 Dec 09

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::::::: Fact Finding Committee - Report into Ludhiana Law & Order Issues 4-5 Dec 09 :::::::

A Report by the Committee of Enquiry

constituted by Bibi Rajinder Kaur
Bhattal, Leader of the
Opposition in the Punjab assembly

on

Ludhiana Violence in December 2009

Authored by Jassi Khangura, MLA

29 December 2009

Presented by

Shri Harnam Dass Johar, Ex-Minister

Table of Contents

Page	Content

3	Introduction (background, committee brief)

4	Timeline

5	Order of Events Leading to Unrest

6	Committee Members

7-8	Committee Proceedings, Committee Activities in chronological order

9-11	Observations

12-14	Victims’ Voices

15-17	Conclusions

18-19	Recommendations

Introduction

Background

Following the violence in Ludhiana in early December 2009, the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhattal constituted an eleven member emergency Committee on 12 December 2009 to look into the incidents of violence that brought Ludhiana, the industrial capital of Punjab, to a standstill for several days.

Unrest, riots, curfew and forced strike were the result of two unrelated incidents, the effects of which were felt for many days. One incident pertained to the issues faced by migrant workers in Ludhiana areas, and one incident related to a religious meeting.

This Report will deal with the violence and related incidents resulting from both the migrant labour issue and that of the religious meeting.

Whilst this Report addresses the background to these issues, its focus is instead on the spiraling of violent events from those unrelated issues over the period covered by this Committee, their knock on effects, and future prevention of similar problems.

This Report also considers whether the Committee feels certain steps could have been taken by any public body (eg Police or the Administration) to mitigate the effects of the violence, or to prevent it in the first place. The sources of the unrest, whilst totally unrelated, resulted in similar breakdowns of law and order in Ludhiana.

The Committee looked into the matter of violence, the manipulation of media during that violence and at periods of time related to that violence, and the overall breakdown of law, order and civic administration.

Committee Brief
The Committee was asked to look into the major incidents of law and order breakdown, which stemmed from different instigating factors (one relating to migrant labourers and one relating to protests against a religious gathering). The Committee was instructed to bear in mind widespread allegations against the local police who were accused of failing to act on time, leading to the violence and even of aiding and abetting criminal elements at some points during the unrest. The Committee was asked to assess the extent of damage to life and property during the days of violence in the city by taking all factors into consideration.

The Committee was also asked to make conclusions and recommendations for action, both locally and at State level by way of taking away learnings from these incidents and working towards effective prevention of such in the future. The Committee was also instructed to establish whether or not to seek judicial review of the incidents.

Timeline

The Committee was instructed to produce a report by 31 December 2009.

Order of Events Leading to and Involving Unrest

3 December 2009:
Some migrant labourers are looted and robbed. They go to Dhandari Police Post to file their complaint. The Police refuse to lodge/register their complaint. They protest and gherao the police post. Some labourers are arrested.

4 December 2009:
Migrant labourers sympathetic to those robbed and arrested on 3 December block traffic on the GT road. They also block railway traffic. They set fire to some vehicles leading to local backlash. In the ensuing violence several migrant labourers are injured. Major parts of Ludhiana city are placed under curfew.

December 5:
While the city was still coming to terms with the two day violence following the protests by the migrant labourers, some Sikh organisations decide to march towards the ongoing religious congregation of the Divya Jyoti Jagaran Sansthan (DJJS). They start from Gurdwara Shaheedan Dholewal Chowk and march towards Chandigarh Road, the venue of the DJJS congregation. They are stopped by the police who opened fire, leading to the death of one protestor, S Darshan Singh. Several others are injured in the clash. Curfew is again imposed on more parts of the city.

6 December 2009:
The city remains under curfew as protests are held in different parts against the police firing which led to the killing of one person and injuries to others.

7 December 2009:
Punjab observes complete bandh in response to a call given by the radical Sikh organizations against the killing of one of the protestors on 5 December. The situation remains tense in Ludhiana and becomes so across the state. Educational institutes and businesses are closed.

Committee Members

The eleven member Committee was constituted as follows:

Chairman:	Shri Harnam Dass Johar, Ex-Minister

Secretary:	Jasbir Singh Khangura, MLA

Members:	Tej Parkash, MLA, Ex-Minister Isher Singh Meharban, MLA, Ex-Minister Gurdeep Singh Bhaini, MLA Darshan Singh Brar, MLA, Ex-Minister Harmohinder Singh Pardhan, MLA Amrjit Singh Samra, MLA, Ex-Minister Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, Ex-MLA Rakesh Pandey, Ex-Minister

Committee Proceedings

The committee held three meetings at Circuit House, where the members met a large number of people who had come from the affected areas. The Committee also visited violence affected citizens in hospital.

Committee members additionally conducted extensive tours of affected areas in Dhandari, including Ram Singh Behra Colony, Dhandari Khurd, Ishwar Colony, Gobindgarh village, Jagdish Colony and surrounding blocks.

Committee Activities in Chronological Order

12 December 2009
Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Bibi Rajinder Kaur Bhattal constitutes an eleven member fact finding committee to look into the violence in Ludhiana under the chairmanship of former Speaker and Ex-Minister, Harnam Dass Johar.

15 December 2009
Bibi Bhattal leads a delegation of the Committee to the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana to inquire about the condition of the injured who were admitted there. She, along with other members of the committee, meets several victims who included locals as well as migrants.

17 December 2009
The Committee holds its first meeting at the Circuit House under the chairmanship of Shri Harnam Dass Johar. This was followed by a visit to the affected areas including Dhandari Kallan, Dhandari Khurd, Focal Point, Ishwar Colony, village Gobindgarh and other surrounding areas.

19 December 2009
The Committee holds second meeting in the Circuit House, where they also met some victims of the violence.

20 December 2009
The Committee members visit the affected areas including Dholewal, Cheema chowk and Samrala Chowk to meet victims personally and to see first-hand the damage to property. They also talked to the eyewitnesses of the police firing.

21 December 2009
The Committee holds the final round of the meeting at Circuit House, followed by another visit to CMC hospital to inquire about the injured.

Observations

The stories of eyewitnesses presented a picture of callous indifference and negligence by the police and authorities in the run up to the violence, and their complete dereliction of duty of protecting life and property of the public during the violence.

Eyewitnesses told us they were shocked to find the police inciting some criminals to violence against the migrant community. The Committee heard that the Police, having failed to ensure law and order, encouraged criminals and goons to ransack the migrants’ property, including that of women and children.

Newspaper reports and pictures along with videos posted on the internet substantiate the migrants’ charges as how the police acted as mute spectators while the migrants were being ruthlessly thrashed and beaten up, and dragged from their houses and workplaces indiscriminately.

Hundreds of migrant labourers have fled the city in fear.

The Committee has observed that large numbers of people seemed prepared to perpetrate violence in the wake of catalyst actions occuring. For many of these people their connection to the “cause” seems tenuous.

Photographs of the riots show two distinct groups of attackers – those of the “core” group i.e. those voicing the protests initially, and those of the “secondary” or tier 2 group – in effect those who had no sense of cause but, having little else to do, joined in the unrest. It is not known from where these secondary perpetrators came from.

In relation to the migrant workers issue, detailed enquiries by the committee revealed that incidents of general thefts and robberies started after the closure of several factories in the area, causing unemployment. Some former workers turned to alcohol and drugs and became addicts. Having no source of funds these addicts at times allegedly robbed the migrant labourers whom they found to be soft targets.

Such robberies and petty crime would usually take place between seventh and eleventh of every month, when the wages are paid to the workers in most of the factories. The police did not take notice for a long. Feeling encouraged by the police inaction the robbers got emboldened to the extent that the incidents became so widespread that the victims elected to protest on the streets.

The Committee investigations revealed that there are small groups of addicts and criminals operating in different villages like Dhandari Khurd, Dhandari Kallan, Lohara and Mundian who target the hapless labourers and rob them of of their earnings.

After having failed to provide safety and security to the life and property of the migrant labouers the police unleashed their vengeance for protesting against their [the police] inaction. The police personnel themselves allegedly visited several colonies where they dragged the migrant residents, including women and children, out of their homes and beat them up while goons and criminals looted their household belongings.

The committee estimates that several hundred labourers have fled the city after the riots after their belongings were looted in the riots which many claim were abetted by the police. Their homes, shops and other valuables have been vandalized. Some of them have been maimed for life. A sense of fear prevails among them and quite a number of them are not prepared to come back.

It was also found by the Committee that not a single representative from the State Government, including the local MLA, has paid them any visit, leave aside making any provision for compensation. The migrants have been left at the mercy of their fate. Even those put behind bars are still in the jail as nobody has sought to provide any aid or relief to them and they are unable to pay to fight their own cases.

The government through its local administration additionally sought to prevent the Committee members from visiting the area.

In regards to the unrest surrounding the protest against the 3 day meeting of the Divya Jyoti Jagaran Sanstha (“DJJS”) and the protests that ensued, several factors were observed.

It was noted that the DJJS were required to have taken prior permission from the government for the meeting.At the same time there were intelligence inputs that other organizations were opposed to the holding of the congregation since they held the DJJS preachings to be contrary to the Sikh religion.

The Government, having approved the congregation and been aware of the potential for opposition to it, should have seen its duty of care to ensure that this did not threaten the law and order in the city.

The Government failed to gauge the sensitivity of the issue.Additionally, the knock-on effects of such incidents lead to polarisation of the community, which many are ready to exploit.Communication between the Government and the relevant Police is also questionable.

The Punjab Police were primarily guilty of inaction in the case of this unrest, and secondly guilty of over-reaction when violence erupted.

The Police had no plans in place towards preventing conflict between the DJJS and those protesting against the meeting and from moving to disrupt it.There was no community liaison to seek to engage those known to wish to disrupt the DJJS meeting, or with the DJJS organizers.

Protestors gathered at Gurudwara Shaeedan Dholewal before setting out on the protest march.They fail to understand why they were not asked, at this point, to abandon their protest.Instead they were stopped by police at Samrala Chowk with full force and gunfire.

Darshan Singh, age 58, was killed by police fire at Samrala Chowk whilst several others sustained serious and more minor injuries. The police at no point attempted to disperse the protestors with negotiation or crowd control tactics.The Police immediately led with live round firing with no attempt to restrict this to non-lethal areas.

It is not clear why such force was authorised for use against the protestors.There have been other instances of gross provocation where police have yet exercised restraint, yet in this case the order appears to have been to open fire.

Victims Voices

Surinder Kumar, a resident of Ishwar Colony said that although no one from his colony was involved in any protest or riots, still the police raided the area and dragged the residents out. As the police raided Puja Complex and dragged the inhabitants out, the mobs at the behest of the police looted the premises and then set fire to several of these. The police are even accused of having drinks in one of the looted rooms. One migrant resident, Surinder Kumar, was brutally manhandled leading to a fracture of one of his arms and hospitalisation.

Lekh Raj, a resident of Ram Singh Behra Colony, Dhandari Khurd said that when he, along with some other residents of the area, went to the Focal Point police station to report an incident of loot and robbery, the police did not file a complaint. They were kept waiting outside for hours with no result. Lekh Raj claimed that instead of listening to their complaint they (the police) misbehaved with them, taking Rs 3400 from Lekh Raj.

Ranjit Kumar, a resident of Dhandari Khurd said the police misbehaved with everyone including women and minors. About 50 people, quite a number of them minors, were illegally detained. Ranjit Kumar’s own nephew, who is only 14 years old is one such detainee. The police has charged them under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.

Some residents of the Dhandari Kallan area, like Jarnail Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Surinderpal Singh accused the local councilor Sunita Agarwal of inaction and failing to come to the aid of migrant labourers. They claimed it was her responsibility to help the migrants get their complaints registered with the police but instead she turned a blind eye towards their problem. [Sunita Aggarwal allegedly owns about 400 quarters in the area which she has rented out to labourers, who feel aggrieved that she still did not support them.]

Some of the injured in the firing during the DJJS-related unrest told Committee members during visit to the Christian Medical College Hospital that the police firing was absolutely unprovoked.

Anup Singh, 60, a resident of Mohalla Dharampura, Ludhiana, said he and others were marching towards the venue of the congregation when all of a sudden the police fired on them, leading to death of Darshan Singh and injuries to several others.

He felt that if they were genuinely concerned as to the intent of the protestors the police could easily have dispersed them with teargas. He hopes there will be a probe into why the police opened fire.

Other injured, including Kanwalpreet, Manjinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Parminder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Amarjeet Singh, Bibi Surinder Kaur and Mangal Singh had similar, shocked, tales to tell.

Another victim, Gurpreet Singh, 35 a resident of Habibganj, Ludhiana was hit by 3 bullets. One of the bullets damaged his liver and one damaged his kidney. He has thrice undergone surgery but his condition remains critical.

The incidence of bullet injuries to torsos of protestors indicates that the Police did not intend to disable protestors without loss of life.

In a signed statement, Gaya Prasad, son of Tek Chand, resident of Dashmesh Market, Dhandari Khurd said that police broke down the door to his house, and hit him in the eye with a stick. His eye remains damaged and he has no recourse to funds for medical assistance.

Ms Sudesh Tangri, wife of Shri Surinder Tangri, resident of Chandigarh Road Ludhiana, complained that her truck, registration number PB10 T 9171, was set on fire on the morning of 4 December 2009.

In a signed statement, Gyan Prakash from Focal Point, Ludhiana, says his house was looted on 4 December 2009. He puts his losses at Rs1.88 lakhs, having had his entire house contents destroyed in the violence.

Mr Vipin Pandey , also of Focal Point, Ludhiana, in a signed statement tells how his provisions store was looted on 4 December 2009. The contents of his shop were badly damaged, causing losses of around Rs1.7 lakhs. Another shop, belonging to Shyamlal Vishwakarma in Dhandari Khurd was also looted to the value of approximately Rs30,000.

Mr Ishwar Chand Garg, on 4 December 2009, suffered estimated damage of some Rs2.84 lakhs when his shop was looted by mobs. Mr Naresh Thakur’s barber’s shop was also looted, his PCO booth was broken and other items damaged, again running into losses of around Rs60,000.

The catalogue of losses continues with Lekhraj, a halwai, who lost goods worth some Rs27,400 when his shop was damaged. Ashok Kumar of Ishwar Colony, Focal Point, had his home damaged, whilst Mr Ram Singh, son of Chanderpal Singh, again of Ishwar Colony, suffered losses of Rs2.18 lakhs of property from his provisions store when it was looted.

Mr B L Shah, from Ishwar Colony, had a godown where he had stored biscuits and provisions. This godown was looted and his stock, worth some Rs3.16 lakhs, was destroyed or stolen. Lalji puts his losses at Rs2.91 lakhs of household goods including sewing machine and electronic goods which were all looted from his property.

All these details, and more, were provided in signed statements , to the Committee, by those named. There are others, not listed here, whose statements remain in the safe keeping of the Committee.

Conclusions

It is not possible to take the incidents of early December 2009 in isolation. They are part of a long catalogue of violence and one step on Punjab’s deplorable road of violent incidents and law & order breakdown including:

a. Riots in Bathinda and surrounds related to the Dera Sacha Sauda in April 2007

b. Widespread unrest around the Municipal Corporation elections in August 2007

c. Six persons were killed on the night of October 14, 2007 in a bomb blast in Shingar Cinema in Ludhiana. It was later found that the blast was the handiwork of some pro-khalistan elements.

d. Violence surrounding the April 2008 Block Samiti, Zila Parishad and Panchayati Raj elections

e. Violent incidents relating to the April/May Parliamentary elections 2009

f. The Dera Sachkhand protests of May 2009

The Committee has observed that large numbers of people seemed prepared to perpetrate violence despite having no prior no connection with the issues at stake. The Committee has noted that the Ludhiana violence of early December 2009 has, at its root, the failure of the state government to provide economic security to its youth.

The catalyst for unrest in the case of the migrant workers was the failure of the police to register their reports of repeated theft and robbery and their failure to find the perpetrators of these crimes.

The catalyst for unrest in the case of the religious based unrest was failure of the police and authorities to recognise the potential for conflict between groups, demonstrating a distinct disconnect between the community and the police / authorities.

Violence could have been avoided in Ludhiana if the police had been more alert and responsive.

The Akali led Punjab Government seems at best oblivious and at worst grossly negligent relating to the risks posed to the security of the state and the nation by hostile neighbours and non-state actors. These elements could well seek to capitalise on a weak Indian Punjab.

The enrolment of criminal elements by the Ludhiana police is highly regrettable and is an inherent component of the wider Shiromani Akali Dal political conspiracy to further criminalise politics.

The failure of the administration to protect innocent migrants in the industrial heartland of Punjab has serious repercussions for Punjab’s agriculture and industry sectors and, unless countered effectively, could lead to a Maharastra type situation in Punjab.

The Ludhiana police in particular, and the Punjab police in general, lack the authority to tackle public unrest on account of the unprecedented levels of political interference in Punjab. In this case it is abundantly clear that the orders to shoot were provided by none other than the Punjab Home Minister, Mr Sukhbir Badal.

10.

The failure of the ruling family to be visible in Ludhiana during the period of violence is a complete abdication of responsibility and is in complete contrast to the frequent gridlock in Ludhiana on account of Badal family visits.

11.

The failure of any member of the Badal family to visit any of the victims or relatives of the deceased is a gross insult to those affected as is the unpardonable deafening silence of the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister/Home Minister. The State leadership must immediately condemn any such violence and silence on such matters cannot be accepted, only deemed a serious failure of leadership.

12.

The Punjab Police have, in the previous 3 years, faced numerous incidents of civil unrest and violence in the Ludhiana area and broader Punjab, yet have learned absolutely nothing from those incidents. This indicates that the police lack autonomy to act in accordance with the norms of good policing.

13.

The frequent polarization of the public by the ruling government on religious grounds Is a highly toxic, inflammatory and risky proposition that does not bode well for peace in Punjab. This carries the very real danger of pushing Punjab to the brink of the same abyss which the state only clawed its way out of some 15 years ago.

14.

The Shiromani Akali Dal is clearly concerned that its panthic hold on the electorate is facing a massive threat as its divisive religious agenda stands exposed, with more people now basing their electoral intentions on economic and security criteria.

15.

Many fake criminal cases have been filed against individuals, numerous missing persons need to be traced with urgency, and numerous others have been detained illegally, who lack the resources to apply for judicial remedy.

Recommendations

While the Punjab administration has displayed its complete inability to maintain law and order in Punjab the Union Home Ministry must send specific directives to the Punjab police in order that senior officers are left in no doubt as to their responsibilities.

The Union Home Ministry to constitute a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the unprecedented levels of violence in Ludhiana in early December 2009, and all other major incidents in Punjab over the past 3 years, to ascertain whether the Punjab Government has fulfilled its obligations to maintain law and order.

That Sukhbir Badal, the Punjab Home Minister, resign forthwith for undermining the Ludhiana police and for not allowing the police to act independently.

The Punjab Government to set up a Rs50 crore corpus relief fund to compensate victims of the recent Ludhiana violence.

The immediate transfer, for re-training, of all Ludhiana police officers who failed to discharge their duties effectively during the unrest.

The Ludhiana Police to implement a community liaison cell with plain-clothes Community Outreach Officers who will work with each community’s natural, elected and opinion leaders to:

a. Understand the underlying tensions and reasons for discontent

b. Build bridges between the community and the police

c. Instill confidence in the public that they can communicate their issues, without fear, to an intermediary body who they relate to.

Chief Minister Sardar Prakash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal refrain from making inflammatory statements that promote hatred and divide communities on religious grounds and stop playing Russian roulette with the lives of the people of the State.

To enhance the security preparedness of this critical border state, it is imperative that a cross party committee be established, to include Punjab Congress leadership, to regularly receive briefings from the State and Central intelligence agencies.

Establish a grievance cell for civil unrest specific cases, in partnership with a reliable NGO to ensure non-harassment of witnesses or victims.

10.

That no political leader, irrespective of party allegiance, be exempt from prosecution for abetting or inciting violence.

11.

Investment program to be established by Punjab Government focusing on urban renewal and employment opportunities for jobless youth. Consideration should be given to routing the public investment through public private partnership to mitigate risk of inappropriate program development, and to ensure timely delivery, to arrest the current slide into urban decay.

29 December 2009

Jasbir Singh Khangura, MLA
Secretary

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