In Remembrance - Justice Ajit SIngh Bains

Dear Supporter,

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Wahguru Ji Ki Fateh

Another iconic human rights champion of Punjab, Justice Ajit Singh Bains passed away on February 11th, 2022, just a couple months short of hitting a century. He was well known worldwide as the judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who defended human rights to the last letter. He was the co-founder of the Punjab Human Rights Organization and a prolific writer who chronicled the dark times of Punjab, post-June 1984, much to the embarrassment of the Indian state.

He became a household name in Punjab when he was asked by the newly elected chief minister, Surjit Singh Barnala, to appoint a committee on political prisoners post-1984, to hush the organizations crying human rights violations in Punjab.

The committee lead by him travelled across Punjab, meeting the imprisoned, presented its report and recommendations to release 6,000 languishing detainees against whom it had found no credible evidence, in just three months of its work.

The Punjab government was shocked by his work but had to release thousands illegally detained because Justice Bains refused to back down from holding the government accountable despite obvious threats. He continued to work against illegal detentions and disappearances and exposed the human rights abuses in Punjab prolifically both in his position as a judge and as a lawyer at PHRO.

He was also perhaps the only judge on the Indian subcontinent who was arrested by the same police he used to order to arrest the criminals. On April 3, 1992 he was forced out of his car and taken away by the Punjab Police. He spent five months behind bars. The imprisonment made the him larger than life figure in Punjab and the Diaspora, causing many human rights organizations to lobby for his release.

He closely worked with the hero of our book, Jaswant Singh Khalra, in the nineties and later with his family post his disappearance, along with his son Rajvinder Singh Bains who also practices law in Punjab and Haryana High Court.

So when this book was finished a couple of years ago, he was one of the three people whose blessing we sought. He was kind enough to send it. His words adorn the back cover of our book.

He said, “The Valiant brings to life in flesh and blood, Jaswant Singh Khalra, the activist who died defending people’s right to life and the rule of law. A moving tale of courage under fire, of a rebel who confronted tyranny with defiance, without arms and guns.”

"ਇਹ ਕਿਤਾਬ ਜਸਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਖਾਲੜੇ ਨੂੰ ਪਾਠਕ ਅਗਾੜੀ ਸਾਖਿਆਤ ਲਿਆ ਖਲ੍ਹਾਰਦੀ ਹੈ, ਜਿਹਨੇ ਅਪਣੀ ਜ਼ਿੰਦਗੀ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦੇ ਜਿਊਣ ਦੇ ਹੱਕ ਤੇ ਨਿਆਂ ਦੇ ਆਦਰਸ਼ ਦੇ ਲੇਖੇ ਲਾ ਦਿੱਤੀ। ਇਹ ਉਸ ਬਾਗ਼ੀ ਸੂਰਮੇ ਦੀ ਕਹਾਣੀ ਹੈ, ਜਿਹਨੇ ਬਿਨਾਂ ਹਥਿਆਰਾਂ ਦੇ ਹਿੱਕ ਡਾਹ ਕੇ ਜ਼ੁਲਮ-ਜਬਰ ਦਾ ਮੁਕਾਬਲਾ ਕੀਤਾ।" - ਅਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੈਂਸ, ਰਿਟਾਇਰਡ ਜੱਜ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਹਾਈ ਕੋਰਟ

We thank him for life full of service and inspiration as we bid him farewell.

Friends, so much is happening in Punjab right now, that it is hard to write more on our work. But I promise you, that this book is traveling into many homes and hearts through libraries and book shops and doing what we intended for it to do - Educating our youth about our recent history - so they can be inspired to carve a better future. Not a week goes by that I don't hear a new story of inspiration.

Thank You, for all your support.

Guru Ang Sang
Gurmeet Kaur

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