Chandigarh: The Swiss Workers’ Assistance Organisation, which sent two of its representatives to India, has painted a very grim picture of human rights violation in Punjab. A 25-page summary of the long report submitted by Hand Hansuell Rafflaub and Hanspeter Spaar, released by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR) here, asked the Swiss authorities to be liberal in granting aslyum to Sikhs in Switzerland as repressive laws like TADA and NSA and the police acting as extra-judicial executioners were making many young Sikhs flee the country. According to MASR representative here, the Swiss Government has been a bit more liberal after that.
The team, which visited Punjab in March last year, said 2,600 applications for asylum were pending and the Swiss Govt.team found enough evidence to say that much of the militancy was the product of brutal police actions.
The team quoted from Amnesty International and Asia Watch to focus on the violations and urged the Government to do something to stop these violations. (Hindustan Times Sept.7).
