The Representatives of various organizations under the banner of 'The Punjab Human Rights Defenders Coordination'- an umbrella body formed recently to co-ordinate activities of human rights defenders, met the Governor, Punjab on Saturday (Feb 7, 2004) at Raj Bhavan, Chandigarh to express their deep concern over the dismal human rights situation in Punjab and Chandigarh developed in the wake of Burail jailbreak incident.

The delegation comprising Justice (Retd) Ajit Singh Bains, Kuldeep Singh Wadala, Charan Singh Lohara from Akali Dal (Amritsar), Kanwar Pal Singh of Dal Khalsa, Human Rights activists Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Bibi Baljit Kaur, Advocate Amar Singh Chahal, Youth leader Karnail Singh Panjoli, Rajinder Singh and others, urged the Governor Justice (Retd) O. P. Verma to intervene and ensure that the Chandigarh and the Punjab police do not unleash a fresh reign of terror, harassment and torture against human rights defenders.

A memorandum was submitted to the Governor, who is also administrator of UT, Chandigarh pressing him to ensure that there's no witch-hunting under the garb of tracing the three militants who escaped from the Burail jail by digging a tunnel on Jan 21.

The delegation pointed out that in a knee-jerk reaction to the jailbreak case, the state security forces have begun a massive witch-hunt, not of those involved, but of lawyers, human rights activists and the families of a large number of activists who have vigorously opposed the Indian state in the last two decades.

Members of Punjab Human Rights Defenders Coordination sought Governor's active intervention to keep a tab on the executive to protect the rights of every citizen, including those the state believes are accused or supporters of the accused. Veteran Akali leader Kuldeep Singh Wadala minced no words when he remarked "rule of law should be the rule if Punjab has not to be pushed again into the quagmire of rebuke and retribution".