New Delhi: For 26 years, Balwant Singh Khera, a social worker from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur, has had only one goal – justice for the 170 Indians who drowned on December 26, 1996, when their boat capsized near Malta, an island country in the Mediterranean Sea.
A total of 565 people – mainly Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis – had left for Europe in the hope of a better life. They were trying to enter Italy illegally when many of them were transferred to a small boat that eventually capsized, killing 290 passengers. Most of those killed were Indians, mostly from Punjab.
Establishing the Malta Boat Tragedy Investigation Mission soon after the incident, Khera not only continuously monitored the case in India, but also made several trips to Italy in the hope of bringing some relief to the families of the victims.
But today age is not on his side and his memory is getting weaker.
“It happened a long time ago,” Khera, now 86, told ThePrint. “Fighting as long as I could, I went to Italy and ensured conviction in just two years for the Italy-based travel agents who were part of the case. Here in India the case is still going on.
Last week, 750 migrants aboard a fishing boat were killed when their boat capsized in Greek waters. The incident, in which a large number of Pakistanis were also killed, was reminiscent of the 1996 Malta boat tragedy.
Months after the Malta tragedy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked 29 people in 1997 for cheating, forgery and human trafficking under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Emigration Act. According to the agency, the victims had left Delhi in September 1996 after they were assured by travel agents that they would be trafficked to different parts of Europe.
But since then the matter is pending, It was not until 2009 that a Delhi court ordered the framing of charges, and since 2018, the case is stuck at the ‘prosecution evidence’ stage.
Only 11 of the 206 prosecution witnesses in the case – including the investigating officers and family members of the deceased – have been examined so far.
Meanwhile, 15 of the 29 accused in the case – who allegedly promised jobs to migrants and tried to take them to Europe – have died since the trial began in a CBI court in Delhi, and There are also many witnesses.
“It took 20 years to frame the charges. “The trial is progressing very slowly,” defense lawyer Vipasha Sharma, appearing for accused Avtar Singh in the case, told ThePrint. “Many witnesses are dead, many accused are also dead and the rest are very old. Are. If the trial continues at this pace, it will not end even for the next 30 years.”
read this also, Punjabi illegal immigration to the US depends on asylum letters. and an MP is kicking them out
hindrances , death, old age
According to lawyer Vipasha Sharma, each hearing brings news of a new death – either of an accused or a witness – and more delays.
The law mandates a ‘death verification’ process if an accused or witness dies. Under this, the Investigating Officer (IO) has to write to the police station of the area where the deceased resided. Then the local police will send a constable to the house of the deceased and hand over a report to the IO, who will present it in the court.
Only after this process can the next witness be examined.
“Last time the court called more than 10 witnesses, but the judge was informed that some of them had died. We are doing death verification only in half the time,” said Sharma.
He cited an example of such delay – a few months ago, One of the accused against whom the witness statement was recorded had died by the time of the next court hearing.
“So, the purpose of that statement has been defeated,” he said.
Once all the 206 witnesses are examined, the court will proceed to the next stage – first recording the statements of the accused, and then hearing the defense witnesses.
“The exercise is not over yet,” another defense lawyer told ThePrint on condition of anonymity. “Even if we take 20 or 30 witnesses (two for each accused), Even if we give a list, it will take many years to investigate them. It may go on for the next 20 years as well.”
the man who fought alone
Balwant Singh Kheda, who was among those leading the campaign to get justice for the victims of the Malta boat tragedy, seems to have given up all hope.
“Half of the accused are dead, others are too old now and they too will be gone by the time the trial is over. I don’t think it will reach any conclusion even after the death of these accused,” he told ThePrint over phone.
The families of the victims have also either moved on or died, he said. “Most of those who were fighting were the parents of youths from Punjab and most of them have already died… In some cases, their wives or children were still hopeful, but given the pace of the trial, They too have moved on.”
One of the few memories of the incident is the MBT Tragedy Gallery painstakingly put together by Khera. Here, he has kept photographs and belongings of the victims, which were collected from their families over time.
“This gallery, which I had dreamed of turning into a museum, is now in ruins. There is no one to take care of it. It’s still there because I’m holding it. This too will disappear when I am gone. I really tried my best to get justice for those youths in India, but maybe it was not enough,” he said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Read also: The youth of Gujarat are illegally migrating to America, Canada. only the dead get caught