Balwinder Singh Jattana was a principled Sikh, who at the young age of 25, could no longer bear witness to the looting and oppression of Punjab and its people. Witnessing the injustice and killing, he felt compelled to join the Sikh freedom movement and left home in order to protect his family as he knew the corrupt police already had him in their sights.

Sumedh Saini, then SSP of Chandigarh police, suspected Balwinder Singh may have had a hand in the car bomb attack on him and his officers on 29th August 1991. In an act of revenge, Saini sent his gang of criminals, led by Ajit Poohla, to Balwinder Singh’s home village of Jattana. Upon arriving at his home in the early hours of 31st August, they found his 80 year old grandmother Divarki Kaur, 40 year old aunt Jasmehr Kaur, 13 year old cousin Manpreet Kaur and his 5 year old nephew Simranjit Singh, who suffered from polio. All four were brutally murdered by the police sponsored gang and their bodies were set alight along with the home. Simranjit Singh was shot dead where he lay on his bed, as the polio had crippled him and left him unable to walk. A burning mattress was thrown on top of his dead body to destroy evidence of the heinous crime.
Days later, in September 1991, an informer led the police to Balwinder Singh and an encounter with the police took place in the nearby fields. Shaheed Balwinder Singh Jattana lost his life in the fierce gunfight. It is unimaginable how the family has survived the continual persecution by the State and its authorities. Sikh Relief have been supporting the Jattana family over the years. We are currently funding the higher education fees for the children of Surinder Kaur, who is the elder sister of Shaheed Balwinder Singh and survived the attack because she had already been driven underground by the police harassment. Both Surinder Kaur’s children have been blessed with Sikhi saroop (see photo) and as her daughter nears the end of her education, we pray to Waheguru that we see her happy and settled very soon!
In the coming week, we will bring you an exclusive interview given by Bibi Surinder Kaur to the Sikh Relief team, as she tells us first-hand, the trauma her family suffered at the hands of the State.