Sandeep Singh: Who Are Some Of The Faces Behind The Kaumi Insaaf Morcha?
Sandeep Singh: Who Are Some Of The Faces Behind The Kaumi Insaaf Morcha?
“We were not at the protest when the clash happened. But at the same time, We support the boys who clashed with the Police as their action was a reaction to police treatment of the protestors.”
Sandeep Singh
March 16, 2023 | 5 min. read | Original Reporting
Kaumi Insaaf Morcha, which has now spent more than two months protesting at the Punjab-Chandigarh border, is demanding the release of Sikh political prisoners. The movement continues strongly, despite clashes with Chandigarh Police, the deployment of Punjab Police, and other obstacles.
Baaz talked to some of the significant individuals behind the organizing of the morcha to gather their thoughts on where the protest stands right now and the continued goals of the movement.
Balbir Singh Hisar, Personal Assitant of Jagtar Singh Hawara
For the last 15 years, Balbir Singh Hisar, 45, has been the personal assistant to Jathedar Jagtar Singh Hawara. He and Bapu Gurcharan Singh are the primary contacts with Jathedar Hawara during the protest.
“The protest was started on the directions of Jathedar Hawara. We spent three months preparing for the protest. Taking a letter from Hawara, we approached several organizations and told them to join the protest. Hawara instructed us to run the protest through a coordination committee, so we formed the coordination committee, which draws members from different organizations. We meet every third day and take all the decisions.”
According to Hisar, Jathedar Hawara is kept updated and gives the go-ahead to all the decisions from the committee.
Balbir denied allegations that Kaumi Insaaf Morcha has been hijacked by any other groups.
“This protest is neither run by Akalis nor Congressmen. We are running the protest which is led by Guru Granth Sahib. If you look, most farm unions who come here to protest come without their flags whenever they sit in front of Guru Granth Sahib at the protest site. Our main focus are the four demands,” he shares, referring to seeking justice for the Behbal Kalan shooting, sacrilege issues, and the release of Sikh political prisoners.
Balwinder Singh, spokesperson of Kaumi Insaaf Morcha, President of Lok Adhikar Lehar
Balwinder Singh has a special relationship with Jathedar Hawara. During their time in college, the two were in the same hostel and would have regular discussions on current affairs.
Balwinder Singh claims that Hawara used to show him pictures of martyred Sikhs published in the Ajit Newspaper and tell him that one day he too would do something big. Hawara wanted to stop the bloodshed of Sikh youth by then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, which he would eventually accomplish.
Balwinder Singh is the President of Lok Adhikar Lehar, an organization fighting for democratic rights and also led a fight against corruption in government schemes for the disabled. He left his government job as a program producer in 2021, where he was posted at the Government Institute for the Blind, Ludhiana.
He has been an active member of the protest from the outset and was there when a clash took place with Chandigarh Police on February 8, 2023. He blames four reasons for the events that day.
“Kaumi Insaaf Morcha impacts the Badal family, Sumedh Saini, who ordered to open fire on Behbal Kalan protestors, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who was behind the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and Maur Bomb blast, and Centre-State governments for not releasing Sikh political prisoners. All of them want this protest to end. It is the reason that when we were at Punjab Bhavan talking to the government, protestors and police had clashed,” he shares when also saying he and others are not afraid of police FIRs.
“We were not at the protest when the clash happened. But at the same time, We support the boys who clashed with the Police as their action was a reaction to police treatment of the protestors.”
Balwinder Singh, along with Bapu Gurcharan Singh, Amar Singh Chahal, Dilsher Singh, and Jaswinder Singh Rajpura, who were meeting the government at the time of the incident, was booked by the police.
Talking about efforts to get the Sikh Prisoners released with other allies, he says 40 Farm organizations have given a memorandum to all MLAs of Punjab. Nearly 60 MLAs will be approached again by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh committee demanding the release of the political prisoners.
He says that Kaumi Insaaf Morcha will approach employee associations, student wings, and labour organizations as well to make this protest a Punjab-wide mass movement.
Balwinder Singh highlights how Punjab’s farm unions, which cut across ideological lines, lent support to the cause of Sikh Political Prisoners. He says that except for Joginder Singh Ugrahan’s union, the majority of the farm unions attend the protest.
Gurcharan Singh, Father of Jathedar Hawara
Gurcharan Singh, 67, from Zirakpur of Patiala, is the father of Jathedar Hawara. He is one of the prominent faces of the Kaumi Insaaf Morcha and one of only three people who stay in touch with Jathedar Hawara.
He says that the protest started with three demands - the release of Sikh political prisoners, justice for the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, and answers for the victims of the Behbal Kalan firing incident. Gurcharan Singh has been involved in talks with the government, but he does not have high hopes from the Punjab officials.
“We held two meetings with the Punjab government, one on the eighth of February and one on the 26th of February. I and others met Punjab minister Aman Arora and Harpal Cheema in the second meeting, where ministers promised to take action to fulfil our demands.”
Gurcharan says that the government told them it would consult legal advisers and take action to ensure the release of political prisoners. According to him, the Punjab government has assured that it will talk to the Delhi government about the release of Davinderpal Singh Bhullar and the Karnataka state government about the release of Gurdeep Singh Khaira.
After assurance from the Punjab government to produce Jathedar Hawara in the Mohali case, Kaumi Insaaf Morcha has discontinued sending a batch of 31 Sikhs every day toward Chief Minister Mann’s residence. Gurcharan Singh claimed that if the government does not present Hawara in the Mohali court on March 23, 2023, and takes action by March 31, 2023, the morcha will continue sending batches of Sikhs toward Bhagwant Mann’s house.
Dalsher Singh Jandiala, Lawyer
Dalsher Singh, 35, is a lawyer practicing at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He and many other advocates, like Amar Singh Chahal, Gursharan Singh Dhaliwal, Ramandeep Singh Gill, and Jaspal Manjhpur, have been fighting to release Sikh Political prisoners for a long time.
“Whenever we demand the release of the political prisoners, we get a negative response from the state. Jathedar Hawara’s four FIRs are still pending, of which two cases are pending in Kharar, Punjab, and two cases are pending in Chandigarh. Police showed no willingness to start the cases.”
Jandiala said that after getting a negative response from the government, they decided to start the protest.
“We made the announcement from Reru Sahib, Sahneewal, on the 19th of December that a permanent protest should be started,” Jandiala claims that protesters are in high spirits and will keep fighting.
Sandeep Singh hails from Machhiwara, Punjab. As an independent journalist, he has worked with many prominent Indian news organizations. Sandeep is best known for his widely acclaimed reporting during the Farmers’ Protest . You can follow Sandeep on Twitter @Punyaab
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