Sikhs honour Indian journalist |
The Punjabi American Heritage Society of Yuba City and various Sikh temples in California will honour Vishwa Mitra Tandon, a journalist whose investigative reporting brought to light the killing of 11 Sikhs in fake encounters by UP police in Pilibhit district in 1991.Tandon will be honoured this weekend at multiple ceremonies in Yuba City which has a large population of the Punjabi community. His relentless investigative reporting spanning more than two decades led to the indictment of 57 police officers in 1995, 47 of whom were convicted and sentenced in April 2016.The killing of Sikhs took place on July 12, 1991, when a bus carrying Sikh pilgrims was intercepted by the UP Police. Eleven Sikh youths were dragged out and killed in three fake encounters. Tandon refused to believe the all too common police version that those killed were terrorists. He resisted immense political pressure and threats to his personal safety to bring the truth to light."He developed witness testimony confirming that the young innocent Sikhs had been murdered as part of a widespread programme of terror by the government at that time against Sikhs.
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