Kulbir Singh Jee Barapind Has Been Extradited From Usa To India!

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

KULBIR SINGH JEE BARAPIND HAS BEEN EXTRADITED FROM USA TO INDIA!!!

The Indian Government and Jallandhar SSP, Ishwar Singh, have unfortunately succeeded in bringing former associate of Khalistan Commando Force (Panjwar), Kulbir Singh Jee Barapind, back to India.

He has been deported from USA and has arrived at Phillaur Police Station...Let us pray Vaheguroo Jee keeps Bhai Saahib Jee in Chardhee Kalaa.....

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India: Dont Torture Sikh Activist Extradited by US

By SSNews, Human Rights Watch, tribune

Jun 20, 2006, 19:18

The Indian government must ensure that its security officials do not torture or mistreat Sikh separatist Kulvir Singh Barapind, who was extradited to India from the United States on June 17, Human Rights Watch said today. The Indian security forces have a long history of mistreating Sikh activists in custody.

Barapind has made credible allegations to a U.S. federal court that, before coming to the United States, Indian security forces in 1988 and 1989 tortured him to stop his political activism and to make him reveal the identities of other Sikh activists.

“Barapind’s account of being tortured in the past makes it even more likely that Indian security forces will abuse him again,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If Barapind has committed crimes he should be prosecuted in a fair trial, but the Indian government must not allow its own forces to break the law to punish him.”

Barapind described to the U.S. court how the police suspended him in the air from his wrists with his arms tied behind his back, rolled a wooden log over his thighs to crush his muscles, tore his legs apart at his waist to a 180-degree angle, applied electric shocks, and beat him on the soles of his feet, among other methods. He also submitted evidence that Indian officials tortured his family and friends.

Human Rights Watch said that the greatest risk to Barapind, as with many criminal suspects in India, is during police remand, when suspects are detained at police stations for investigations with minimal oversight. The U.S. State Department’s annual country reports on human rights in India have demonstrated a pattern of custodial torture and death of alleged Sikh activists.

“Indian security forces have a long history of abusing criminal suspects and detainees by torturing them,” said Adams. “They’ve used those methods against politically active Sikhs without facing any punishment.”

Kulbir Singh has been brought to Phillaur police station. SSP Ishwar Singh, has already stated to the Press that he expects 'many more disclosures' from Kulbir Singh...

For more information visit:

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/06/20/india13584.htm

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Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

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Bitta: hand over Bira to CBI or IB

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 21

Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta yesterday demanded that deported terrorist Kulbir Singh Bira should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation or the Intelligence Bureau for questioning and also a special court should be set up to deal with such deported terrorists.

Mr Bitta, who heads the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front, said the Punjab Police had presented a weak case against Daljit Singh Bittu, another former militant, which allowed him to be exonerated in court. Mr Bitta claimed that Bira's case would also be weakened.

He had allegedly gunned down former Punjab Minister Darshan Singh Kaypee and was also instrumental in attacks on various other political leaders, said Mr Bitta. The CBI or the IB must probe who all had been in touch with Bira and the sources of funds to the lawyers of these militants.

Mr Bitta said he would meet the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister to demand a special court and seek that all deported militants should be tried by that court, which should be set up in Delhi. He alleged the plan of bringing former militants to India and later allowing them to get a clean chit by presenting weak cases in court was part of a sinister design of some politicians and officials.

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NOTE: Maninderjit Bitta = A FOOL and traitor to the Sikh Qaum!

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[KH4L1$T4N1]

i hope he's ok

i so hate bitta, cant beleive he survived the attack by Bhai Davinderpal Singh, well atleast he'll never walk again

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

From what I hear, Phillaur is under complete Police control at the moment as if there is a "Police Mela". All "Police-Wale" have come to see the "Tamahsa" I suppose.

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[sunny_love_kirtan]

i m jagjit singh from goraya city.

BARA PIND is a village next to my city and its only 5 km away from my house.

even the road where my house id called BARAPIND ROAD.

i was at my neighbour's house and there people were discussing abt

BHAI KULBIR SINH JI.

they were talking dat some investigators from US or mat be some members or team of

US EMBASSY came to bara pind and was to examine if bhai kulbir singh if being tortured or not again?

and some families who were blaming BHAI KULBIR SINGH JI, have taken their statements back.

I DNT KNOW WOTS HAPPENEING VERY NEAR TO ME.

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

i m jagjit singh from goraya city.

BARA PIND is a village next to my city and its only 5 km away from my house.

even the road where my house id called BARAPIND ROAD.

i was at my neighbour's house and there people were discussing abt

BHAI KULBIR SINH JI.

they were talking dat some investigators from US or mat be some members or team of

US EMBASSY came to bara pind and was to examine if bhai kulbir singh if being tortured or not again?

and some families who were blaming BHAI KULBIR SINGH JI, have taken their statements back.

I DNT KNOW WOTS HAPPENEING VERY NEAR TO ME.

Thanks for your information.

I sincerely hope what you have heard is fact and commend the USA Embassy if they have taken the step to enforce Human Rights that no form of torture is used on Bhai Kulbir Singh Jee. It will make his coming days a lot easy.

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

Very long, but a good read for those who do not know too much about Bhai Saahib Jee's background...

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History about Bhai Kulvir Singh Barapind

DURING INTERROGATION, there are at least four or five different types of torture that the

police employ in Punjab, a state in northwest India known mostly for its fertile soil, for its quenching rivers,

for producing plenty of milk, for high literacy rates and for its concentration of some 14.5 million adherents

of the Sikh religion.

In 1988, Kulvir Singh Barapind learned about the Punjab police's interrogation methods firsthand.

At the time, Barapind was a 24-year-old political activist who had forsaken his final year of college to

organize the Sikh population in rural Punjab. Barapind, as he tells it in court testimony, had taken the bus

from his village to Rahimpur, a village in a neighboring district, to pull together a ceremony at his village to

commemorate the Golden Temple massacre of 1984, when 70,000 Indian troops laid waste to much of

Sikhism's holiest temple in an ill-fated and bloody military operation. Barapind intended to invite a notable

Rahimpur religious leader for the ceremony in his village.

At the bus station, police officers spotted Barapind and a fellow activist who was traveling with him.

The two were taken to the local police station for questioning, and the police soon learned that Barapind

was his district's president of the All India Sikh Student Federation, a nonviolent organization dedicated to

carving out Punjab from India as an independent homeland for the Sikhs. Being a member of the Sikh

Federation was a dangerous act in post-1984 India.

Barapind was immediately stripped down. His arms were tied behind his back with a rag. He was

lifted into the air, where his bound hands were tied to a thick rope that hung from the ceiling. As Barapind

dangled, his shoulders curved backward, police officers whacked his midsection. He was lowered and asked

for information about the Sikh Student Federation.

When he insisted he was only in Rahimpur to invite a religious leader to his ceremony, Barapind

was made to sit on the floor and extend his legs, his hands still tied behind his back. An officer rode a 3-

foot-long wooden roller, an oversized rolling pin, back and forth over Barapind's thighs a few dozen times.

His shrieks of pain did nothing to stop the process. Next, officers grabbed each of Barapind's ankles and

began pulling his legs in opposite directions until he felt as if the muscles in his groin would rip.

After these methods failed to coax information from Barapind, the process began again.

A day's torture completed, Barapind was locked in a crowded, brightly lit prison cell for the night.

The following morning he was led into the interrogation room, and the torture began again. When

Barapind fainted from pain, the police officers used hot water to revive him.

Barapind's interrogation lasted eight days more; then he was sent to jail.

Six months later, a judge permitted Barapind to post bail, but the charges against him were

eventually dismissed. He returned to his village, but was arrested again the next summer while asleep on the

roof of his house, accused of sheltering militants. Once again, the torture began.

This time, in addition to methods used during his previous arrest, the police introduced a machine

designed to emit electric currents. Wires were attached to Barapind's toes, fingers and genitals.

Later, in U.S. court records, Barapind described the sensation as feeling as if the skin of his <admin-profanity filter activated>

was peeling off.

Khalistan

Today, as he has for the last seven years, Barapind sits in a high-security cell in the old Fresno

County Jail, one of the longest-held detainees in modern American history. He arrived in the United States

in 1993, under the Muslim alias Mahim Mehra. Living underground in Punjab since 1989, the year he was

electrocuted by the Punjab police, he fled to Katmandu, then to Bangkok, and on to the United States,

where he was detained by immigration officials at LAX for displaying a false passport. Since his detention,

Barapind has been in U.S. custody, first fighting for political asylum, then fighting an extradition request by

the same Indian government he fled from, an Indian government that accuses him of murdering 26 people

in Punjab; Barapind maintains that he has never engaged in violence.

Among many Sikhs, especially those who come from rural origins, Barapind is considered

something of a folk hero, a warrior-saint who struggles for justice. (Today 80 percent of the 14.5 million

Sikhs in Punjab live in rural areas; by contrast, 55 percent of the Hindus in Punjab live in urban areas.)

Among other Sikhs, especially those who have assimilated into urban life, he is considered a fundamentalist,

a religious literalist. The Indian government—and much of the mainstream press—considers him a terrorist.

Despite the label, those who have chanced to meet him—even for a very short time—are eagerly welcomed

into the homes of his supporters. "How is Kulvir?" they are asked. "What was his state?" Since his arrival in

the United States, Barapind's supporters—and there are many—have raised and spent more than $200,000

for his legal defense. His network of international support stretches from the United Kingdom to Canada,

but is centered, remarkably enough, in San Jose, where a number of his closest friends reside.

Sikhism (a Sikh is a "student" or "disciple") grew during a period of Muslim Mogul and Afghan rule

of the Indian subcontinent by way of a succession of 10 gurus who crystallized the religion in India from

1468 to 1699. Often recognized by others for their distinctive appearance—turbans, bracelets, beards for the

men—the Sikh diaspora has also extended to the West (some 4 million Sikhs live in Europe, Canada and

the United States). The Sikhs often found themselves at philosophical odds with the Hindu and Muslim

majority on the subcontinent. While Sikhism is monotheistic in nature, theologically Hindus and Muslims

alike would not accept Sikhism as a religion revealed from God to prophets. Indeed, under India's current

constitution, Sikhs, unlike India's Muslims, are expected to abide by the personal and family law of the

Hindus.

After the partition of India in 1947, the Sikhs, along with about a third of Punjab, were folded into

the greater Indian state but agitated for more autonomy. In 1973, the Akali Dal, a Sikh political party,

introduced the Anandpur Sahib resolution, which demanded a more decentralized India; Sikh grievances

included discriminatory agricultural prices that the central government set for farmers, the diversion of

Punjab's river waters and hydroelectric power to other Indian states, and linguistic issues.

Since these grievances were never addressed, the Sikhs engaged in mass nonviolent protests for the

next decade. By the early 1980s, disillusioned by an unbending and sometimes brutal response to their

protests, and galvanized by the zeal of faith, a segment of Sikhs emerged who believed only militancy would

bring India to the bargaining table.

In 1984, about 200 armed Sikhs, led by the charismatic and controversial Jarnail Singh

Bhindranwale, took refuge in the Sikhs' holiest site, the Golden Temple in Amritsar. What happened next

was what scholars—and even Indian commanders involved in the assault—call a drastic over-response:

70,000 Indian troops, using tanks and heavy arms, fought a three-day battle with the 200 militants for

control of the temple. Bhindranwale was killed, the temple badly damaged and scores of pilgrims killed.

Indian government estimates put the number at about 400 while independent estimates claim anywhere

between 3,000 to 8,000 worshippers were caught in the crossfire. ( The New York Times reported in 1984

that the Indian government waited eight full days after the army took control to allow reporters access to the

temple; indeed, the initial battle stories were filed from New Delhi, not from Amritsar.) During the same

week, government forces also attacked 37 other Sikh temples across Punjab.

Months later, Indira Gandhi, India's prime minister, was assassinated by two of her bodyguards,

who were Sikhs. Her assassination sparked waves of anti-Sikh violence across India. In New Delhi alone,

between 3,000 to 4,000 Sikhs were murdered. Roving mobs conducted the violence that benefited—much

like the recent anti-Muslim violence in the Indian state of Gujarat—from the tacit approval and even aid

from the Indian government. The sanctioned violence gave more popular support to Sikhs committed to

militancy. In 1986, they formally announced a desire for an independent Sikh state to be called Khalistan.

The government's response was a brutal crackdown on the Khalistan movement. (India, along with

its rich diversity, has a history of communal problems; its reasons—not its tactics—behind opposing a

separate Khalistan during the insurgency are considered valid by mainstream political scientists. Among

other effects, political observers say, a separate Punjab state would only disintegrate India's union by

sparking other independence movements and would remove India's best farmland and river waters from

the union.) Legislation was passed permitting extended detentions, secret evidence, hiding the identity of

witnesses and the use of confessions obtained through interrogations. Meanwhile, the Punjab police were

given the responsibility of directing the counterinsurgency in Punjab. Police resorted to civil rights abuses.

They armed thousands of anti-Sikh villagers. They started a "Black Cats" program, which infiltrated the Sikh

resistance groups. To the dismay of international human rights groups, they engaged in torture to extract

confessions and information. And they carried out extrajudicial executions of suspected militants and their

supporters, dumping bodies into irrigation canals or illegally cremating them; the extent of the extrajudicial

executions is being discovered only today. In the ensuing years, especially during the early 1990s, there was

widespread chaos. Civilians were being slaughtered indiscriminately—the militants blamed the authorities

who had infiltrated their ranks; the authorities blamed the militants. Militants continued to target police,

collaborators and political figures who supported the counterinsurgency tactics. Police targeted anyone

remotely associated with the Khalistan movement, including farmers and peasants who fed and housed

militants in the countryside, human rights advocates and nonviolent activists and supporters of Khalistan.

Independent observers say 10,000 to 20,000 people, including countless innocent civilians, died each year

at the height of the insurgency.

The brutal counterinsurgency succeeded in quieting the Khalistan movement, though, and, like

Barapind, many of the movement's leaders and organizers fled India.

"There's a huge amount that's known and published about the counterinsurgency," acknowledges

Brad Adams, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "I was just in Amritsar [in Punjab] a few months

ago, pursuing these very same subjects up to the present. There are still people being attacked." But how

does this happen under a democracy, the largest in the world? "The first thing I would say is that one should

not confuse democracy with human rights," Adams continues. "Political pluralism, government succession

without violence—India does have that. It has an independent election commission. [india] is a very

contradicting place. In Punjab thousands were killed; in Kashmir; in northeast India, thousands of people

are being killed. But then, you have a very sophisticated [electoral] process. When the BJP lost an election

this year, they walked away immediately. There was not even a whiff, not even an idea of them clinging to

power through extraconstitutional means. That makes India hard to understand. ... Let's talk about New

Delhi after Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Her party was the Congress Party. Leading members of the

party got together—and they are identifiable—and decided to avenge her death by sponsoring riots and

pogroms against Sikhs. And this is the party that just won the most recent election, to the glee of most

liberals of India, but has never reconciled its own past. I'm not sure what lessons to draw from that."

Encounters

Parminder Singh is perhaps the polar opposite of Jaskaran Kaur. Singh, at one time a national

champion weightlifter in India, is tall and thick. Kaur is short and slight. Singh chooses not to don the

customary Sikh turban. Kaur resolutely wraps one on her head. Singh sells orchids for a living. Kaur has a

Harvard law degree and focuses on human rights issues. In his south San Jose home, Singh lives with his

wife and three children, an older brother (who is disabled) and his mother. Kaur, though married, relishes

her independence in Santa Clara, about a continent away from her extended family on the East Coast.

Singh was born in Barapind's village in Punjab. Kaur was born and raised in New Jersey.

Still, when the new Sikh temple opened its doors last month in San Jose, near the Evergreen

neighborhood, it was the unlikely partnership between Singh and Kaur that allowed Kaur to give a

presentation on human rights research she's conducting in Punjab. (Kaur is one of a small group of activists

focusing on documenting state human rights violations in Punjab during the counterinsurgency operations

of the 1980s and 1990s.) At the temple, Kaur and her group not only wanted to distribute fliers for outreach

but also wanted to deliver a presentation about their findings. "We had hoped to do this at the grand

opening, and there were some people who objected to our participating in the grand opening because there

was this tendency to see any discussion about human rights in Punjab as anti-religion or as anti-India,"

relates Kaur. "So they thought that we would alienate the outside community. We went to a couple of

meetings and there were a lot of arguments, and it just came down to us being allowed to distribute material.

Then the people who were sympathetic to our work put enough pressure on them that we ended up

speaking on Saturday. We didn't speak on Sunday [the main night of the grand opening], but we did speak

on Saturday."

That's when Singh stepped in. "I know a lot of people," says Singh, nonchalantly shrugging his

shoulders. "I'm well-respected in the community, and I was able to talk to the right people."

Kaur's research stems directly from the findings of the abducted (and allegedly murdered) Sikh

activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. Khalra, a leader in the human rights wing of the Akali Dal, the Sikh political

party, investigated what were euphemistically known as "encounters" in Punjab after a friend disappeared at

the hands of the Punjab police. Through some clever detective work, Khalra discovered that hundreds of

bodies labeled as "unidentified and unclaimed" were being cremated by police at local crematoriums. By

accessing crematorium and firewood purchase records, Khalra estimated some 2,000 illegal cremations

were conducted in just three crematoriums in the only district of the 13 Punjab districts that he studied.

Eight months after he publicized his findings in January of 1995, police commandos kidnapped Khalra

while he was washing his car outside his house. He was never "officially" seen again. Meanwhile, India's

Supreme Court has ordered that 2,097 of the illegal cremations discovered by Khalra be investigated.

In 2003, Kaur helped three human rights activists publish a report documenting the names and

lives of many of the victims of the "encounters" Khalra discovered. The report prompted Khushwant Singh,

a widely read Indian novelist and social critic to write: "I supported ...extrajudicial methods to stamp out

terrorism. ...When stories came out about abductions and cold-blooded killings of over 2,000 young Sikhs

in Amritsar and Tarn Taran, I refused to accept them simply on records of purchases of wood made by

police to cremate them. [The report] is spine-chilling. I often wonder why so many senior police officers

drink so hard. Now I have a clue."

The critic's admission, though, doesn't impress Kaur. "Everyone in Punjab knows about [the

killings]," she says. "Why don't more people know about it? How many people have died in Iraq? Do you

have any way of knowing? Who controls the information? The government, or people who want to appease

the government? People in the cities do not venture out into the villages. They were so fed on state

propaganda that they saw them all as terrorists. Human rights organizations were threatened and accused of

being front groups for terrorist organizations. So when Khushwant Singh says, I used to support extrajudicial

executions, and now I know why I'm wrong"—her eyes flash darkly—"just the fact that he supported them,

that didn't raise an outcry?"

Innocent Civilian

In 11 separate charges, the government of India has accused Barapind of committing 26 murders,

all during a three-year span during the early 1990s, when the violence of the insurgency and the

counterinsurgency in Punjab was at its height. When he arrived in the United States as Mahim Mehra in

1993—which is still the name the U.S. Marshal Service and Citizenship and Immigration Service have on

record—and was subsequently caught at the airport, Barapind promptly applied for political asylum.

However, during the asylum proceedings, Indian authorities requested he be extradited to India to face 26

counts of murder. The two separate issues only complicated his legal situation in the United States, and the

most tangible result has been that Barapind has been detained, but not arrested, for the last 11 years. "In

India, it was physical torture; here, the torture is mental," Barapind sighs.

Satish Kumar Sharma, the lead Indian police officer who is requesting Barapind's extradition, has a

rich history during the counterinsurgency operations in Punjab. Kaur's human rights organization,

ENSAAF, has submitted a supporting brief for Barapind's case that alleges Sharma is directly "responsible

for numerous cases of arbitrary detention, torture and extrajudicial execution or disappearance." One

Sacramento man whom Kaur herself interviewed claimed Sharma interrogated him and directed others to

torture him.

Meanwhile, contends the Indian government, on June 29, 1991, Rajinder Kaur and her husband,

Kulwinder Singh, were preparing for bed. At 11pm, the bedroom door burst open, and Barapind and a

comrade entered the room. He pulled Kulwinder Singh out into the veranda and, despite his pleas for

mercy, shot him with an assault rifle. The charge is based on an unsigned affidavit submitted by the Indian

government that is said to be Rajinder Kaur's account of the night.

On Oct. 5, 1991, 60-year-old Rattan Singh was traveling to a religious ceremony along with

Thekedar Ram Tirath, Tarlochan Singh and Jaspal Singh. At 10:30am, Barapind allegedly emerged from

the bushes near a bridge and, armed with an assault rifle, began firing at the jeep. Ram Tirath, Tarlochan

Singh and Jaspal Singh were all killed. Rattan Singh survived the attack, and the Indian government

submitted his unsigned affidavit to charge Barapind.

On Sept. 6, 1992, Sohan Singh was sleeping on the roof of his house along with his sons Paramjit

Singh and Kashmir Singh. A third son, Karamjit Singh, slept with his wife, Kulwant Kaur, inside the house.

All three of Sohan Singh's sons were considered "pro-police" and were given arms by the police. At

2am, four individuals, including Barapind, climbed to the roof of the house. Kashmir Singh frantically

attempted to load ammunition into his rifle, but, before he could do so, Barapind shot and killed him with

an AK-47. Barapind then shot Paramjit Singh and asked for the whereabouts of Sohan's third son. When

told he was downstairs, Barapind remained to guard the parents and the other three assailants shot and

killed Karamjit Singh and Kulwant Kaur.

An unsigned affidavit of Sohan Singh is submitted for evidence.

In court, Barapind faced a tricky task in defending himself. American extradition law allows for

political exceptions; meaning that if the violence in question is determined to be part of an ongoing political

movement or rebellion, the United States can opt not to extradite. How to distinguish between political

violence and terrorism? Generally, the rule is that a distinction must be made between domestic

revolutionary violence and international terrorism. However, Barapind does not admit to any of the 26

killings (and, thus, explain the specifics of any political context) because not only does he insist he never

engaged in violence, but because any admission could allow the Indian government to use it against him if

the extradition is granted. As a result, Barapind had to employ a general political exception defense, based

on the totality of the circumstances in Punjab during the early 1990s, and also attempt to pick apart the

support for the specific charges leveled against him.

When his attorneys researched the case, the task of picking apart the support for the specific

charges didn't seem as difficult as anticipated. (At the extradition hearing, the judge described the Indian

government's hands as "not entirely clean.") There were several problems with the affidavits the Indian

government submitted to the United States. For starters, they were unsigned. However, since many of the

witnesses were illiterate, Indian authorities explained that the affidavits were transcripts of oral statements

read back to the witnesses and signed by a thumbprint on the back of Barapind's picture. The photocopies

of the pictures submitted, though, showed no such thumbprints. Also, the affidavits were in English. The

original Punjabi versions were never offered. Further, many of the affidavits, said to be the witnesses' words,

curiously began and ended with the same sentence, giving credence to the assumption that the allegedly

incriminating affidavits were, in fact, "stock" affidavits of the Punjab police.

Noticing the irregularities in the evidence given by India, Jagdip Singh Sekhon, one of Barapind's

attorneys, decided to travel to India himself to investigate further. Sekhon, also a lecturer at the University

of California at Davis, informed the court and the representatives of the Indian government of his

intentions, and, while preparing to leave, had his visa denied by the Indian government. Finally, Sekhon

resorted to seeking help from attorneys already practicing in India. The Indian attorneys, in turn, tracked

down many of the same witnesses whose statements India had submitted for evidence and took their own

affidavits. "Those affidavits were given to us right before the trial [by Barapind's attorneys]," complains U.S.

Attorney Stanley Boone, who is representing India during the extradition proceedings. "We don't know the

nature of the witnesses; we don't know how the witnesses were confronted."

The findings, nonetheless, were remarkable.

For instance, Sekhon's Indian attorneys found Rattan Singh, who was said to have survived an

assault by Barapind that killed three of his fellow travelers and whose affidavit that identified Barapind as

the gunman was submitted by the Indian government as evidence. In a conflicting affidavit—this one

properly signed and appearing with the original Punjabi—Rattan Singh maintained that he never gave the

police the name of his assailants because he was unable to identify them. Further, Rattan Singh swears, he

was forcibly taken to the police station and asked to give an affidavit that identified Barapind. When he

refused, the police pressed his thumbprints onto several sheets of blank paper. These thumbprints, says

Rattan Singh, were then used to "identify" Barapind as the killer.

In another case, Sekhon's Indian attorneys tracked down Rajinder Kaur's testimony during the

murder trial of the two assailants said to be with Barapind that night. In her testimony, Rajinder Kaur

testified under oath that she couldn't identify any of the shooters that night. Further, the attorneys tracked

down Jaswinder Singh, the son of Sarwan Singh, who was murdered the same night along with Rajinder

Kaur's husband. In his affidavit, again properly signed, Jaswinder Singh supports Rajinder Kaur's trial

testimony, insisting he was with her during the shootings and that the police themselves identified Barapind

as the shooter. Due to Jaswinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur's testimony, the other two accused murderers

were acquitted in a trial in India. Finally, in the case of Kulwant Kaur and the three collaborators, affidavits

were taken of several townspeople, including village elders and mayors, which confirmed the three sons

"terrorized" the village and were supported by the police. When one village complained to police about the

three brothers, the police ignored the complaint and "allowed the three brothers to sit alongside them as

equals."

Similar conflicting information was introduced by Sekhon's attorneys on all 11 of the charges filed

by the Indian government against Barapind. When the federal judge eventually ruled on the extradition

request on Aug. 27, 2001, he threw out eight of the charges against Barapind. There was probable cause

that he didn't commit three of the murders, the judge ruled. In the other five, the judge gave Barapind the

political exception. On the remaining three charges, however, the judge found him extraditable. One of

those was the murder of Kulwant Kaur, who the police say was killed not by Barapind, but by his associates.

In his opinion, the judge, while accepting the possibility that the three murdered sons could have, indeed,

been collaborators and terrorizers of a village, could not accept the death of Kulwant Kaur (the wife of one

of the sons), who he described as an "innocent civilian." The judge's opinion, however, is based on law that

is meant only for those who specifically target civilians in their attacks, argue Barapind's attorneys.

"There's one [previous] case in U.S. courts that rules the deaths of civilians in political contexts is

'incidental'; there's another that rules anyone who targets civilians can never qualify for a political exception,

explains Sekhon, one of Barapind's attorneys. "So let's say there was an insurgency in China, and somebody

sets up a bomb in the marketplace. Under the first case you can still qualify for the political exception,

under the second, you can't. They are trying to say that the law of the second case prevents Kulvir from

getting an exception because of what happened to Kulwant Kaur [the wife of the targeted collaborator]. But

the whole debate between the two cases is a smokescreen; they're trying to suck us into an argument that's

not relevant. Ours is a situation where the death of the civilian was not a targeted death. It's more similar to

U.S. soldiers being engaged in violence with combatants and a civilian death occurs."

"They are not soldiers," retorts Boone, referring to the Sikh separatists. "They are not in uniform.

Also, he [barapind] has never admitted that he committed the crimes. That's like having your cake and

eating it too. In criminal law, the fact that somebody kills somebody and somebody else is also shot, that's

called transferred intent. That's what murder is about. What happens if Timothy McVeigh comes along?

When does that turn into an uprising? That [barapind's argument] under the law is not sufficient.

Otherwise everybody would go I don't like those people." Boone, tellingly, makes no distinction between

McVeigh's popular support and tactics and those of pro-Khalistan Sikhs in Punjab.

Based on the three remaining charges, Barapind was ordered to be extradited to India to face

justice in the hands of the same authorities who allegedly fabricated affidavits against him, tortured him and

fought against his movement during the insurgency after the Blue Star Massacre—this was allowable under

the rule of "specialty," meaning that India could try him only for the offenses specified by the American

judge.

"Our concern is that even if Kulvir surives the torture and the extrajudicial treatment, that the

Indian government would not honor the rule of specialty because they haven't in the past," Sekhon warns.

"They would detain Kulvir as a political prisoner."

Jokester

Kulvir Singh Barapind, who has never been interviewed in person during his 11 years of detention

in the United States, was never politically active as a youth. He was born into a family of farmers in the

village of Barapind (literally meaning "Big Village"), and it's the esteem that he's acquired now from the Sikh

community that allows him to be identified by the name of his village. Politically active Sikhs held rallies in

his village during the time Barapind was growing up, but his parents always advised him to stay away from

politics and activism. There was too much trouble associated with it, they told him. After the Golden

Temple Massacre, however, Barapind dropped out of the university. He could no longer fight the urge to

do something for his community. Joining the All India Sikh Student Federation, an activist group that

advocated for Khalistan, he quickly proved an adept activist and soon rose to giving speeches in front of

audiences numbering in the tens of thousands. Meanwhile, he became a baptized Sikh and attempted to

mold his character according to his religion.

"When people speak about Kulvir now, they have tears in their eyes," says Parminder Singh, who

was also raised in Barapind's village. Parminder Singh, younger than Barapind by a few years, remembers

looking up to Barapind. "He would always advise me not to get politically involved. He was concerned

about my safety. He's always looking out for people. Even now, from jail, he's always concerned about

people and trying to help people."

Barapind has long, stringy black hair that he ties up in a bun perched neatly on top of his head. At

the Fresno County Jail, he's not permitted to wear his religiously obligated turban, and his hair, which shines

from the intensity of its blackness, is displayed for all to see. He has a long, smooth forehead, free from any

of the stress or age-related creases one would expect. His beard extends down to his navel, and only his eye

betray any sense of a man who has suffered. His movements are quick; he snaps his fingers when he talks,

and he's a bit of a jokester. His ankles are chained together. One hand is allowed to remain free, while the

other is chained to his waist. He resides in solitary confinement and says that sometimes the officers will

show him off to visitors dressed in suits; they brag that they're holding a "terrorist."

At the jail, he's dressed in a yellow jumpsuit and bright orange shoes without laces. When he

speaks, it's difficult for him to talk about himself. Mostly, he will lapse into analyzing the political situation of

the Sikhs in Punjab. "When I was in school," he says, "we used to read in the papers about [the] Sikh leaders

making demands for religious rights for Sikhs, making demands for Punjab. I didn't comprehend at a deep

level how Hindustan was a separate nation, not for Sikhs, but after 1984 [after Blue Star], I realized that the

Hindustan government's policy was to finish off the Sikhs."

When he's asked about the torture he's endured, he again manages only a half-hearted attempt to

explain his emotions, but speaks easily about the general reasons why torture is implemented. "You're filled

up with pain and anguish," he says. "You don't want to get into the hands of the police again. The police's

purpose is always to cause pain and humiliate you, to stop you from thinking the way you do. But, if you're

religiously inclined and step back from the situation, it's shows their weakness. The government can't stop

you. They might be able to silence you for a short time, but they can't stop you. If you're weak in thinking,

they can stop you. If you have strength in your thoughts, you can continue to raise your voice."

His opinions about the use of violence to achieve political ends? Again, Barapind distances himself

from the answer (and the militancy): "People need to carefully understand each country's unique situation

before judging whether those who chose to engage in an armed struggle are justified," he explains. "There

are four parts to a democracy: the legislature, the police, the judiciary, and the press. What do you do if

your justice system doesn't dispense justice under the government? And the police act extrajudicially under

that same government's orders? People need to delicately understand why these things happen when

judging whether armed revolt is justified. Militant Sikhs believe they have no other option. They can't even

go to court—look at the case of Jaswant Singh Khalra. They believe they have no way out of these

oppressions. Even the press is reporting for the government, so the truth of the people is left behind. You

can't look at the situation in Punjab through American lenses. Human rights groups are not even allowed

into Punjab to inquire about abuses."

Later in the conversation, Barapind makes a distinction between militancy and terrorism. "First you

should understand the difference between the two terms," he instructs. "There is a difference between

terrorists who target civilians and people fighting for religious freedoms, for human rights and for free

countries. [The Sikhs], both the militants and the peaceful political activists, are like freedom fighters.

Those who call the Khalistanis terrorists are politically ignorant people or those who want to destroy them."

Should militants be fueled by anger? "The movement's purpose is to get the government to a point

of dialogue," says Barapind. "When the government doesn't address the issues and tries to discredit them,

only then can an armed struggle in resistance to state oppression be justified. Nothing will be solved by

anger. The point of resistance is to get the government into an honest dialogue."

Barapinds ends by acknowledging the esteem he's held in by many parts of the Sikh community.

"I'm very grateful that God has given me this gift of honor," he says. "The Sikhs have given me a lot of

honor, respect and company. I feel proud of how I have been received by the community. This shows that

the Sikh community has accepted our struggle."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[kurtas]

i hope he's ok

i so hate bitta, cant beleive he survived the attack by Bhai Davinderpal Singh, well atleast he'll never walk again

He walks fine. The whole wheelchair thing was just an act for sympathy. Also when beanta su was CM, bitta used to go around collecting money (for influence). He made crores so maybe the CBI could investigate Bittas wealth which is disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Bitta would sell his own mother for publicity. He now has very little political power as he was a firm stooge of Narisima Rao who is now dead.

The USA will not be checking up for torture. The GOI would never allow it. It is one of them fairy tales that pindus make up. Going by how Bittu and Zafarwal were treated I doubt Barapind will be treated badly.

Sunny love kirtan. Do you live near that big sweet shop on the corner (near traffic lights) as you head for bara pind ?

[Guest PunjabSingh]

The USA will not be checking up for torture. The GOI would never allow it. It is one of them fairy tales that pindus make up. Going by how Bittu and Zafarwal were treated I doubt Barapind will be treated badly.

So kurtas,now Bhai Kulbir Singh is your next target to be called GOI agent ??

So far you have been calling all Sikh leaders GOI agents without any distinction.

[Guest PunjabSingh]

Indian press and media are calling Bhai Kulbir Singh as "Khataarnaak Aatanwadi Kulbira" which is a shame.

No matter what the indian media says here is what his village folk think about him :

http://www.ajitjalandhar.com/20060621/general.htm

If a person who stops illegal activities in his area and helps others even persons like Sharma who is mentioned in the above report an Atwaadi then who is Satwaadi ?

Everyone must remember that Bhai Kulbir Singh has been sent to India to face only 3 charges as rest of the charges have been dropped against him by 'US courts'.

So far as Bitta is concerned,he has no following here .

Sikhs seriously need a media of their own urgently .

Media can play a big role in influencing mass public opinion.