Harvinder Singh Phoolka

Harvinder Singh Phoolka (commonly known as H. S. Phoolka) is a senior advocate of the Delhi High Court, Human Rights activist, and author. He is known for spearheading one of the longest and most tortuous legal "crusades" to gain justice for the victims of 1984 Anti-Sikh massacre and for fighting individual cases on the involvement of Congress-I leaders H. K. L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler despite the government cover-up.

The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots took place in India after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. The then India's Prime Minister was assassinated by two of her Sikh guards acting in the aftermath of Operation Bluestarwhen the Indian army attacked the Sikh sacred shrines of the Akal Takhat and the Golden Temple complex during the period June 1 to 6, 1984. The Indian army invaded the Harmandir Sahib complex on the orders of the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.

Advocate H. S. Phoolka received threatening letters for unearthing the involvement of ruling political party leaders in what the Asian Age called, "the Mother of all Cover-ups" in a front page story. The special anniversary edition of Outlook (magazine) included Phoolka in its list of 50 people that make a difference in India.

Recently

According to IANS, Advocate H.S. Phoolka withdrew from all cases following allegations that he had been making personal gains. His decision followed allegation by the president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Paramjit Singh Sarna that the advocate had 'wasted' the money in the course of the campaign.

'I felt humiliated and abused. It was an attack on my integrity and record of selfless service,' Phoolka, 54, told IANS.

'I have never charged a penny as fee,' he said, while pointing to the legal assistance offered to families of the riot victims. Whatever the DSGMC has spent was unavoidable and not for my personal gains.

Early life and education

Phoolka's formative years were spent in a small village called Bhadaur in the Sangrur district of Punjab, India. His education began in a small school in his village. He graduated from Ludhiana, and went to Law School in Chandigarh. He comes from Jat Sikh family of Phoolka clan (a sub-clan of Sidhu Jats).

Family

Phoolka married Maninder Kaur in 1983. She is a food technologist and was a 1990 "outstanding graduate" of American Institute of Baking, Kansas^[1]. She is said to have declined job offers in the United States and returned to India to support her husband's struggle for justice^[1]

Career

After completing his law degree in Chandigarh, Phoolka landed in Delhi to practice law. He served as member-secretary of the Justice Narula Committee formed in 1993 to probe the carnage^[2]. He was later appointed the counsel for Central Government in January 2001^[3]. He is known as a lawyer who won't take up a case if he finds that the client is in the wrong^[4].

1984 Anti-Sikh massacre

Phoolka is well known for spearheading the crusade to seek justice in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi and resulted in killing of 2,733 Sikhs within 2 days.^[5] He was then just 28 years old and new to practicing law and the city of Delhi.^[6] He has put the cause of justice for 1984 Sikh massacre victims before his career^[3][7] and family life^[7].

First encounter and escaping the massacre

Phoolka was caught in the massacre while driving pregnant wife Maninder Kaur home on his motorbike. When informed by a friend of the attacks on Sikhs, he avoided the main roads to reach his home in South Delhi via the slums of Kotla Mubarakpur.^[8] Phoolka's landlord drove the mob away by telling them that the Phoolka family had left Delhi and hid them in his store room. There the Phoolkas spent 2 days, and came out under escort. They then flew to Chandigarh in the cockpit of an overcrowded plane.^[9]

Resolution to fight

Phoolka planned to move his residence to Chandigarh after the riots, but he learned that lawyers were needed to draft affidavits on behalf of the victims, and went to the Farsh Vihar relief camp^[6] to help. The sight of orphans, bereaved mothers and wives in the relief camp prompted the Phoolkas to change their plans. Instead of relocating to Chandigarh, they chose to stay and help the victims of the massacre^[10]. Since then, Phoolka has fought cases relentlessly^[10] for the victims despite government cover-up.^[10]

Formation of Citizens Justice Committee

Phoolka conceived and pursued the formation of the Citizen's Justice Committee (CJC). The CJC served as an umbrella organization for several human rights activists and legal luminaries. Floated in May 1985,^[11] the CJC has been pivotal in representing the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre victims before the various judicial commissions that have been formed for inquiry into the massacres. Membership included Justice Ranjit Singh Narula, Soli Sorabjee, General Jagjit Singh Aurora, Justice V. M. Tarkunde and Khushwant Singh^[11]. As a counselor for the CJC, Phoolka represented the victims before the first formal sitting of the Mishra Commission on 29 July 1985. The proceedings of the sitting were not made public and were closed to the press.^[12] In March 1986, the CJC withdrew its cooperation from the Mishra Commission because it disagreed with the commissions decision to hold secret proceedings, and started filing individual court cases.^[13]

Mooting of Carnage84 website

To make the many documents and findings of Citizens Justice Committee on 1984 Sikh massacre available to the general public, Phoolka mooted the idea of the "Carnage84.com" website, which was launched 10 July 2001 and claimed 1,50,000 visits from people of 30 different countries within 10 days of it going online^[14]

Notable quotes

• The fight for justice by the riot victims sent a message that the powerful and the mighty could be challenged and demolished. They were like a rock and riot victims were like ants trying to push the rock. Over the years, with our efforts, we have been able to force the rock to roll and now it rolls like a football the moment we come near it. If we stop in our efforts, it would again become stationary and grow into a mountain.

• Before the 1984 riots, there were no criminals in politics. Criminals just followed the politicians. But 1984 made them realise people leading mobs and killing others could get elected and become leaders......So a way was opened for criminals to make politics a profession.

Book

Phoolka, along with human rights activist and journalist Manoj Mitta, has written the first account of the 1984 Anti-Sikh massacre in the form of a book titled When a Tree Shook Delhi^[15].

References

• See Wikipedia article on Harvinder Singh Phoolka for more information