Three decades have passed since the abduction and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra, a prominent Sikh human rights activist who gained international attention for his investigation into the disappearance of thousands of people in Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s. Khalra, who was a bank official, uncovered evidence of mass cremations by police, suggesting that many individuals reported as missing had been killed in extrajudicial encounters.

His daughter, Navkiran Khalra, remains a central figure in the ongoing pursuit of accountability for her father’s death. Following his abduction in 1995, it took years for the legal system to convict the police officers involved in his murder. Navkiran has spent much of her adult life advocating for the broader cause her father championed, ensuring that the history of the period is not forgotten.

Recently, the life and work of Jaswant Singh Khalra have been brought to a wider audience through a film that dramatizes his struggle against state authorities. While the legal cases against the perpetrators have largely concluded, Navkiran maintains that the search for the full truth regarding the systemic abuses her father exposed remains incomplete. The legacy of the Khalra case continues to serve as a touchstone for human rights discussions in India, highlighting the tension between state security narratives and the documentation of civil rights violations during the insurgency period.