Times of India; IP Singh; Thursday, April 21, 2011,
JALANDHAR: That the official machinery resorted to lies to deny the right of a family of a great freedom fighter, whose land was confiscated by the British nearly a century ago, can hardly be denied since there are documents that nail the lie. Over two years back, the Punjab chief minister had told the Punjab assembly that freedom fighter Baba Harnam Singh's land was never resumed by the British government. However, information procured under RTI Act reveals that it is not so and that the officials did not supply correct information even to the chief minister.
The Punjab and Haryana high court had on Monday ordered the Punjab government to identify the families of all freedom fighters whose land was confiscated by the British and to either return it to the rightful owners or pay them compensation at market rate. The court was hearing a case, which also covered the PIL filed by Prof Malwinderjit Singh Waraich in 2010, regarding Baba Harnam Singh of Kala Sanghia village, who was arrested on February 23, 1915, and released on December 10, 1935. During these years, his property was confiscated by the British.
In his PIL, Waraich had attached the state assembly records, wherein chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, relying on a report from the deputy commissioner, Kapurthala, had stated that no land of Baba Harnam Singh or of any freedom fighter in Kapurthala district had been resumed by the British rulers. Badal was responding to a query by MLA (now a minister) Balbir Singh Bath. However, information procured under RTI Act revealed that officials did not supply correct information even to the chief minister. Responding to an application under RTI Act, the deputy commissioner on April 30, 2010, had to admit to the seizure of property and its transaction to another person. He did so after being confronted with certified copies of mutation of land and pedigree table to prove the seizure. The petition also produced a portion of Ghadr directory compiled by the intelligence bureau, home department, on March 29, 1934. Besides noting his "seditious tendencies", it also noted, "All his landed property has been confiscated. His wife and children are in receipt of an allowance of Rs 10 (per) month from the gurdwara parbandhak committee Amritsar (SGPC)."
It also reproduced a portion of the judgment by Justice Ranjit Singh of the high court, dated February 13, 2009, which observed, "In fact, this objection would reflect the apathetic attitude of the government and its functionaries. Is any statue needed for a person to seek return of his own confiscated property when the ground of confiscation was participation in freedom struggle?..."
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