From: dawar@gradient.cis.upenn.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: An Urgent Appeal
Summary: a statement on the arrest of Justice Bains
Keywords: human rights
Date: 16 Apr 92 04:53:05 GMT


As many of you already know, well-known human rights activist Justice
Ajit Singh Bains has been detained in Punjab under the provisions of
TADA.  I am posting the text of a statement on this issue from the
AIPSG.  I urge you to read through it, including the actions
recommended at the end.

 -A.D.

--------
	ON THE ARREST AND BEATING OF JUSTICE AJIT SINGH BAINS.

   Statement of the Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups,
			New York, April 15, 1992

On Friday, April 3, Justice Ajit Singh Bains, retired judge of the Punjab
and Haryana High Court and currently Chairperson of the Punjab Human Rights
Organisation (PHRO) was arrested in Chandigarh.

According to his wife, Mrs. Rashpal Kaur Bains, with whom we have just
spoken in Chandigarh, he was picked up by the police at 9:15am on April 3,
and it took the family until the morning of the 4th to establish that he was
being held by the police.  The family, having been told that they could
visit him in jail at 3pm on April 4, went to the jail only to be informed
by the police that he had been released.  While the family was at the jail,
according to eye-witnesses, Justice Bains, who is 71 years old, was brought
in handcuffs to his house in Chandigarh.  More than 300 police and
paramilitaries cordoned off his residence while some 50-60 police, without
showing any warrants, entered his house and searched it thoroughly, taking
documents related to human rights activities, as well as some cash and
jewelry.  From the moment of his arrest he was not fed and was given only
water.  He was beaten, interrogated, harassed and threatened.  For example,
the nude body of a man who had suffered torture and seemed to be nearly dead
was shown to him at the Mohali Interrogation Centre and he was told that the
same fate awaited him.

After the search on his house, he was taken to the Anandpur Sahib Police
Station in Ropar district where he was formally held under the Terrorism and
Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).  According to the arrest
report which was subsequently produced on April 6, the arrest is shown to
have taken place on April 4, at 7pm.  After his wife filed a petition of
habeas corpus, the case was finally heard on April 8, without the presence
of Justice Bains.  The petition was dismissed without the lawyer having been
given a proper hearing.  On April 9, Justice Bains was transferred to
Chandigarh jail.  While he is being held without charge, the police have
informed the media that he is under arrest in connection with a speech he
delivered on March 18, at a religious festival in Anandpur Sahib.  It has
been noted by the Punjab legislature that after the festival, Justice Bains'
name did not figure among the names of speakers who had mentioned anything
about Khalistan.  Many have asked why je should be arrested when he had not
done anything seditious even according to the government's own criteria.
Furthermore, neither his name nor that of the PHRO are mentioned in any of
the First Information Reports (FIRs) the police have produced to justify his
arrest.  Since he is being held under TADA, Justice Bains does not have much
chance of being granted bail, and can be held in prison for up to two years
without a trial.

In protest over the arrest of Justice Bains and the refusal to grant habeas
corpus, the courts and lawyers of Punjab have gone on an indefinite strike.
The latest information we have is that the former Governor of Punjab, Nirmal
Mukherjee, the former Chief Justice of the Punjab High Court, R.S. Narula,
ex-Supreme Court Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, human rights activist Inder
Mohan and others are to move the Supreme Court in New Delhi on April 16, for
his immediate release.

The arrest of a prominent human rights activist like Justice Bains shows how
both the Central government as well as the newly formed Punjab government
are completely disinterested in a democratic resolution of the Punjab
problem.  What is needed are policies that will, in the first instance,
bring an end to the reign of terror that has been the fate of Punjab for the
last decade.  Every day brings fresh news of innocent people massacred on
trains and buses and in fake "encounters".  The aim of the central and
Punjab governments should be to establish law and order and the due process
of law so that, in a calm situation, all other problems can be sorted out.
But it seems that with the arrests of individuals of the calibre of Justice
Bains, the governments at both the central and state levels are only
contributing to the increase in tension and are pushing the prospect of a
peaceful solution into the distant future.  This can also be said with
respect to the attitude of the central government which refuses to adhere
to the due process of law vis-a-vis individuals such as H.K.L. Bhagat and
Jagdish Tytler, who many people believe have committed crimes during the
November 1984 massacres.  The central government should understand that for
peace to be achieved, the people must feel and see that justice is being
served.  Terror and harassment would only fuel the already inflamed
situation in Punjab.

We demand that Justice Bains be released immediately.  We in the AIPSG have
been calling for the scrapping of draconian laws like TADA, the National
Security Act (NSA) and the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) for
many years.  It is not surprising that Justice Bains, who has also condemned
these laws and has campaigned strenuously for the human rights of all the
people of India should now himself be held under one of these statutes.
Thus, we also call upon everyone to demand the scrapping of these laws which
stand in violation of every norm of democratic governance.  It is
intolerable that a personality who throughout the seventy years of his life
- whether in his judgements from the bench, or in his numerous speeches and
writings - has been tirelessly opposing terrorism of all forms should now be
arrested on the charge of being a terrorist.  We call upon everyone to
demand an end to this outrage.

Association of Indian Progressive Study Groups,
Earl Hall, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027

Note:
The India Alert organisation has made arrangements for concerned people to
send telegrammes to the Governor of Punjab demanding Justice Bains' release.
We call upon people to do so by calling WorldLink at 800-435-2827 and
sending the message number: INDIA ALERT JUSTICE BAINS.  The message costs
$6.50, is addressed to the Governor of Punjab and reads:

"Deeply concerned that Justice Ajit Singh Bains arrested April 3, 1992.
Urge that he have immediate access to lawyers and relatives.  Seek assurance
that Justice Bains is being treated humanely.  Urge immediate release if he
is not to be charged with recognizably criminal offence."

Organization: Junior, Civil Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA