Paramjit Kaur Khalra is an Indian politician and human rights defender associated with the Khalra Mission Organization, an organization known for highlighting the 1984 anti-Sikh Punjab is famous for the massacre of Sikhs during and after the riots. She is the widow of prominent Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Kalra.
Wiki/Biography
Paramjit Kaur Khalra was born in 1954 (age 69 years in 2023) from Panj Grain Khurd village in Moga, Punjab. She pursued her BA in Library Science from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. In 1981, she received her MA in Punjabi from Punjabi University, Patiala. She is a member of the Socialist Student Union of the college.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′3″
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Her mother’s name is Gulbachan Kaur.
Paramjit Kaur Khalra and her mother Gurbachan Kaur
She has two sisters. She also had a younger brother, Gurbhajan Singh, who died after falling from a tractor while working in the family’s fields on July 5, 1981. Gurbhajan was a student union leader at his university, where he met the famous firebrand Jaswant Singh Kalra. Due to his tall stature, Gurbhajan was often called “Rambo”. Friends and family affectionately call him “Bhej”. Even though Gurbajan was eight years younger than Kara, they hit it off and became friends. Gurbajan would speak fondly of Jaswant and his activities at home. One day he suggested that Paramjit and Jaswant would make a wonderful couple. Paramjit, who was still studying at the time, refused to get married, saying she wanted to pursue higher education. However, after Gurbachan’s death, the family decided to fulfill his last wish and get Paramjit married to Jaswant.
husband and children
In 1981, Paramjit Kaur married Jaswant Singh Khalra. Paramjit and Jaswant have two children, a son Janmeet Singh and a daughter Navkiran Kaur.
Jaswant Singh Kalra
Jaswant Singh Khalra with children Janmeet Singh and Navkiran Kaur during a family vacation in 1992
Paramjit Kaur Khalra with her children Janmeet Singh and Navkiran Kaur during a family vacation in 1992
In 1985, the couple moved from Kala to Amritsar, where Jaswant Singh worked as a bank director. A series of organized pogroms against Sikhs following Operation Blue Star (1984) and the assassination of Indira Gandhi led Jaswant to become a human rights activist. His investigation found that 25,000 unlawful killings and cremations were committed by Punjab police in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1995, he was kidnapped and killed for exposing illegal killings and cremations by the Punjab police at an international forum. Navkiran Kaur works as a Senior Manager at Western Digital Corporation in Milpitas, California, USA. Since Khalra’s death, the family has been actively working with the Khalra Mission Council to continue her father’s legacy by advocating for human rights.
From left to right, Navkiran Kaur, Paramjit Kaur (holding Navkiran Kaur’s son) and Dalbir Singh (Navkiran Kaur’s husband)
Janmeet Singh Khalra, son of Jaswant Singh Khalra
Long legal battle for justice in Jaswant Singh Kalra murder case
Jaswant Singh Khalra was abducted by the Punjab police on September 6, 1995, while washing his car from his residence in Amritsar. However, police officials denied that Kalra was arrested or detained. On September 12, 1995, Paramjit Kaur filed a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court of India. Meanwhile, the police continued to deny arresting Khalra. In November 1995, the SC ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate Khalra’s disappearance. It was found that the Punjab Police killed Kalra during illegal detention and dumped his body near the Harik Bridge on the Sutlej river. It took ten years for the Kahala murders to come to trial. In 2005, six Punjab Police DSP Jaspal Singh, ASI Amarjit Singh, SHO Satnam Singh, SHO Surinderpal Singh, SHO Jasbir Singh and Superintendent of Police Prithipal Singh were convicted in the Khalra kidnapping and murder case. Jaspal Singh and Amarjit Singh were sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other four were sentenced to seven years in prison. Apart from the six people sentenced by the court, Charan also included Tarn Taran, senior superintendent of police Ajit Singh Sandhu, deputy superintendent of police Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar and Superintendent of Police Rashpal Singh. In 1997, Sandhu was found dead on the railway tracks near the village of Bhakarpur. Sandhu was reportedly murdered but staged as a suicide, while Ashok Kumar died of illness. Rashpal Singh was later acquitted. In 2007, the Punjab and Haryana High Court enhanced the sentences of Satnam Singh, Surinderpal Singh, Jasbir Singh and Prithipal Singh to life imprisonment. In November 2011, the Supreme Court rejected the appeals of the four defendants against serving life sentences and upheld the original verdict. Moreover, after Kuldeep Singh’s testimony in 2005, DGP KPS Gill’s name came up in the case. On September 6, 2006, Paramjit filed a petition calling on the High Court to investigate and prosecute KPS Gill for his role in the torture and murder of Khalra. However, KPS Gill died in 2017 without facing trial.
religion
She believes in Sikhism.
address
She lives in House No. 8, Kabir Park opposite Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Signature/Autograph
Signature of Paramjit Kaur Kalla
Profession
After marriage, Paramjit lived with her husband in Khalra from 1981 to 1985 and worked as a teacher in the nearby Puhla village of Tarn Taran. In 1985, Paramjit and Jaswant moved to Amritsar, where she got a job as a librarian in the Bhai Gurdas Library of Guru Nanak Dev University. After Khalra’s death, she became a human rights defender and began working with the Khalra Mission Organization to seek justice for the 25,000 unclaimed bodies and convict her husband’s killers. In 1999, she resigned as GNDU librarian to contest the Tarn Taran Lok Sabha polls under the name Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD). She lost her seat. In 2019, she contested from Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency on the ticket of Punjab People’s Party but lost the seat. The winning candidate Jasbir Singh Dimpa of the Congress Party polled 4,59,710 votes while Khalra polled 2,14,489 votes.
Paramjit Kaur Khalra in 2019 political campaign
Assets and property
movable property
- Bank Deposit: Rs 2,40,000
- Motor vehicles: Rs 60,000
Note: Personal property estimates given are based on fiscal year 2018-2019. It does not include chattels owned by her husband and dependents.
real estate
Paramjit Kaur’s affidavit for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections mentioned immovable property worth Rs 1,10,00,000 in the name of Jaswant Singh Khalra. These include 3 acres of agricultural land in Khalra worth Rs 45,00,000, 1/2 share of 2700 sq ft non-agricultural land in Chheharta worth Rs 15,00,000 and 1/2 share of 2500 sq ft residential building in Amritsar worth Rs. 50,00,000 Rs.
net worth
Her net worth in 2019 was Rs 1,13,10,000. This includes her husband’s net worth.
Facts/Trivia
- Paramjit Kaur said in an interview that she believed Ajit Singh Sandhu, the accused in the Kahala kidnapping and murder case, did not commit suicide. Instead, he was killed by KPS Gill and his team. Talking about the same thing she said,
Killing Ajit Singh Sandhu has two benefits for KPS Gill and the Indian government. Ajit Singh Sandhu was frustrated as he had many cases against him and he started threatening KPS Gill, “If I am not acquitted then I will tell the court who ordered me Killing innocent Sikhs and who gave me the power.” ordered me to kill Jaswant Singh Kalra. “
Furthermore, she said,
Anyway, I was also told that Ajit Singh Sandhu was still alive, fooled the government, and after killing someone, he threw the body under the train. One man even told me that he had met Ajit Singh Sandhu in Germany. I don’t believe this, but the police can’t be trusted, they can do anything. “
- Interestingly, SAD (Taksali) announced the withdrawal of its candidate former Army Chief JJ Singh from Khadoor Sahib in support of Paramjit Kaur’s candidature during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The move is to ensure that votes are not divided between Paramjit and JJ Singh, thereby ensuring the defeat of the Akali Dal and the Congress party.
- In 2022, it was revealed that popular Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh has been selected to play Jaswant Singh Khalra in a biopic . During the shooting of Amrita, Diljit faced backlash and backlash from protesters who claimed that Diljit lacked the sanctity required for the role. They labeled him a “Videshi” (foreigner) and considered him too “Westernized” to play the role. In March 2022, Paramjit Kaur announced on her social media that the Khalra Family had officially approved director Honey Trehan to produce the biography piece. Diljit Dosanjh later shared a screenshot of the post on his Instagram account.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education