Recognition abroad, silence at home: Why world is marking ‘Saka Nakodar Day’ while Punjab’s files go missing

Yet in Punjab — where the bullets were fired, where the bodies fell, and where the state assumed legal responsibility to investigate — justice has not moved an inch.

The Mayor and City Council of the City of Stockton proclaiming February 4 as Saka Nakodar Day, recognizing the 40th anniversary of the killing of four Sikh students in Nakodar, Punjab, in 1986. (Express photo)

The February 4 police firing of 1986

On February 4, 1986, Ravinder Singh, Harminder Singh, Baldhir Singh, and Jhilman Singh — all unarmed students — were shot dead in a police firing while participating in a peaceful protest against the desecration of Sikhism’s sacred scripture in Nakodar.

The public anger forced the Government of Punjab to establish the Justice Gurnam Singh Commission of Inquiry the same year. The commission completed its report on October 31, 1986. What followed was not action, but delay.

For more than 14 years, the report was not placed before the Punjab State Assembly. When it was finally tabled on March 5, 2001, there was no debate and no Action Taken Report. In 2019, the Speaker of the Assembly acknowledged that no follow-up had ever occurred.

Judicial commission report goes missing

Worse still, Part II of the Commission’s report —containing crucial evidentiary material such as police statements, witness testimonies, and exhibits — was declared missing in proceedings before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

“The state acknowledged that the records had disappeared from official custody. No explanation has been provided. No official has been disciplined. No prosecution has followed,” said Harinder Singh, brother of Ravinder Singh.

Forty years on, not a single individual has been held criminally accountable.

The political history of the case is equally stark. Successive governments in Punjab, across party lines, have acknowledged the injustice while in Opposition. Leaders visited families, expressed solidarity, and promised that, once in power, they would ensure accountability. The case was described as a “dark chapter,” a “moral stain,” a “chronic wound”.

SIT, review committees, but no outcomes

Even a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed, but no results to provide justice. But once in office, those promises dissolved into procedural silence.

Files were reviewed, committees were announced, statements were issued, but no charges were filed. Families were told to wait, then to be patient, and then to trust the system. Four decades later, the system has produced neither truth nor consequence.

The question that now echoes from the families is simple: What prevents justice in this case?

“The victims were not unknown. A judicial commission was constituted. A report was completed. The names of officials were documented. The evidentiary trail existed—until it vanished. If this case cannot move forward, what does that say about the enforceability of the rule of law itself?” ask Ravinder’s family. The families of the other three youths are no more to fight this case now.

Nakodar killings: The global contrast

Internationally, the contrast has become sharper with each passing year. During the 117th US Congress, House Resolution 908 formally recognised February 4 as Saka Nakodar Day. In February 2025 and again in 2026, US Representative Jimmy Panetta addressed the House floor, calling the killings “abhorrent” and the investigation “deplorable.” His remarks were entered into the Congressional Record.

City councils and county boards across North America have framed the anniversary not merely as remembrance, but as a call for accountability. Academic conferences have examined the case under international human rights law. Community leaders have argued that unresolved extrajudicial killings erode public trust and institutional legitimacy.

For the families, however, proclamations abroad are bittersweet. Recognition affirms memory—but it does not deliver justice.

Baldev Singh, father of Ravinder, is now 79. For decades, he pursued court petitions, Right to Information (RTI) requests, and official correspondence. He preserved every document. He attended hearings. He sought meetings with ministers who, at different times, assured him that justice would come.

But it never did.

“His son’s case passed through governments of different ideologies and slogans. Each, while out of power, invoked accountability. Each, once elected, allowed the matter to stall”.

The disappearance of Part II of the Commission report remains one of the most troubling aspects of the case. Records entrusted to state custody simply vanished. No timeline of loss has been made public. No independent forensic audit has been disclosed. No administrative responsibility has been fixed.

“Forty years is longer than the lifespan of many political careers. It spans generations. It has outlasted slogans, alliances, and manifestos,” said the father of Ravinder Singh.

Baldev Singh, father of Ravinder Singh (Express Photo)

As February 4 continues to be observed from California to Birmingham to Cologne — and in gurdwaras — the anniversary has taken on a dual meaning. It is both a memorial and an indictment.

The world has found the words to remember.

Punjab has yet to find the will to prosecute.

“Until the state acts on its own commission’s findings and accounts for the missing record, Saka Nakodar will stand not only as a tragedy of 1986—but as a continuing test of whether justice in a democracy is a principle, or merely a promise made in opposition and forgotten in power,” said Baldev Singh.