\u201cThis is a collective community trauma, and I think the diaspora wants to find constructive channels to heal and to recognize that injustices occurred,\u201d Singh\u2019s daughter, Navkiran Kaur Khalra, told The Fresno Bee via phone.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what to know:<\/p>\n
Sikh men walk in front of murals depicting Jaswant Singh Khalra and other human rights activists in Fresno. Gagandeep Singh gagandeep.singh@fresnobee.com Who was Jaswant Singh Khalra?<\/p>\n
Jaswant Singh Khalra was a bank director in Amritsar in the northern Indian state of Punjab in the early 1990s when he began noticing that some of his colleagues had stopped showing up for work.<\/p>\n
Khalra started investigating their disappearances and allegedly uncovered thousands of disappearances and extrajudicial killings by Indian security forces.<\/p>\n
Khalra campaigned on behalf of the missing people\u2019s families<\/a> and filed a petition<\/a> with the Supreme Court of India, claiming police had cremated the bodies of 25,000 such individuals after identifying them \u201cunidentified\u201d and \u201cunclaimed,\u201d Al Jazeera reported.<\/p>\n \u201cI will challenge the darkness, even if I am just that one candle, that one light,\u201d Khalra said in one of his final speeches<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Sept. 6, 1995, Khalra was arrested by police<\/a>, tortured and murdered. His body was never found.<\/p>\n Several police officials were later convicted in his killing.<\/p>\n \u201cSatluj,\u201d a movie based on Khalra\u2019s life<\/a> and starring popular Indian actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh<\/a>, was released on streaming platform ZEE5<\/a> in July, then abruptly removed two days later.<\/p>\n ZEE5 said in a July 5 statement that the film would be unavailable in India<\/a> \u201cuntil further notice\u201d because of \u201ccurrent developments,\u201d but did not explain what they were.<\/p>\n Jaswant Singh Khalra\u2019s family has ties to Fresno.<\/p>\n His daughter Navkiran Kaur Khalra is a Fresno State alumna<\/a> who now works in the Bay Area, while her husband\u2019s family is from the Central Valley, The Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n In September 2017, the city of Fresno named a park<\/a> after Jaswant Singh Khalra.<\/p>\n Nearly eight years later, Fresno\u2019s Central Unified School District named a new elementary school<\/a> after Khalra, making it the first public school in North America to be named after a person of Sikh descent.<\/p>\n Hardev Singh, one of the organizers of Saturday\u2019s event, told The Fresno Bee that community members came up with the idea of commemorating the anniversary of Khalra\u2019s death about eight years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cA group of 20 elder members of the Sikh community used to sit in the park during the evening,\u201d Singh recalled \u201cThen we came up in idea that we should tell the people about martyrdom of Jaswant Singh Khalra to the local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Singh said Khalra fought for the human rights for all people, irrespective of their religion, caste and creed.<\/p>\n When and where is event honoring Sikh activist\u2019s legacy?<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s memorial will take place at Jaswant Singh Khalra Neighborhood Park<\/a>, 3861 West Clinton Ave. in Fresno.<\/p>\n A Sikh man photographs his associate in front of murals depicting Jaswant Singh Khalra and other human rights activists in Fresno. Gagandeep Singh gagandeep.singh@fresnobee.com What are human rights activist\u2019s ties to Fresno?<\/p>\n