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Paramjit Kaur Khalra (Jaswant Singh Khalra’s Wife)

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 1, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth1954

Age69 Years (as of 2023)

BirthplacePanj Grain Khurd, Moga, Punjab

ProfessionPolitician, Human Rights Activist

NationalityIndian

Marital statusWidowed

SpouseJaswant Singh Khalra

FamilySon - Janmeet Singh Khalra; Daughter - Navkiran Kaur Khalra

Paramjit Kaur Khalra (Jaswant Singh Khalra’s Biography

Indian politician and human rights activist who has carried forward the work of her husband, Jaswant Singh Khalra, through the Khalra Mission Organisation.

Early life and background

Paramjit Kaur Khalra was born in 1954 in Panj Grain Khurd, Moga, Punjab. Raised in a Sikh family, she later made Amritsar her hometown. She completed higher education at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar and Punjabi University, Patiala, earning a Bachelor of Library Science and a Master’s degree in Punjabi (class of 1981).

During her college years she was active in the socialist student union. Her younger brother, Gurbhajan Singh, who was a student union leader, died in an agricultural accident in July 1981; soon after, Paramjit married Jaswant Singh Khalra in 1981. The couple lived in Jaswant’s native village Khalra from 1981 to 1985 before moving to Amritsar.

Career

Paramjit began working as a teacher in a village near Khalra after marriage and later took a post as a librarian at Bhai Gurdas Library at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar. Her husband Jaswant’s escalating human rights work during the Punjab insurgency years drew the family into activism. Following his abduction and murder by Punjab Police in 1995, Paramjit and her children joined the organisation founded to continue his investigations. That group evolved from the Khalra Action Committee to the Khalra Mission Committee and, from 2005, the Khalra Mission Organisation; Paramjit has been involved in keeping Jaswant’s legacy and human rights advocacy alive through that body.

Paramjit entered electoral politics on two occasions. In 1999 she resigned from her librarian position to contest the Tarn Taran Lok Sabha seat as a candidate of the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal (SHSAD), a breakaway faction of the Shiromani Akali Dal; she did not win that election. Two decades later, in 2019, she stood for the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency as a candidate of the Punjab Ekta Party (PEP). She finished with 214,489 votes; the seat was won by Jasbir Singh Dimpa of the Congress party, who received 459,710 votes. During that campaign the SAD (Taksali) withdrew its candidate, former Army Chief General JJ Singh, in order to back Paramjit’s candidacy.

Public profile

Paramjit Kaur Khalra is best known to the public as the widow of Jaswant Singh Khalra and as a human rights defender in her own right. Her work with the Khalra Mission Organisation has focused on advocating for victims and families affected by the large-scale abuses and unresolved killings that occurred during the Punjab insurgency period. She has also been active in pursuing legal accountability in the case of her husband’s abduction and murder.

Legal developments stemming from Jaswant’s killing took many years to reach verdicts. In 2005 six Punjab police officers were convicted in connection with his abduction and murder; two received life sentences and others received multi-year terms. Subsequent appeals and higher-court decisions altered some sentences, with the Supreme Court dismissing an appeal in 2011 that affirmed life terms for several of the accused. Paramjit pursued additional legal action, including a 2006 petition asking the High Court to investigate the alleged role of a senior police official; that official died in 2017 before any trial related to those allegations took place.

Paramjit has also spoken publicly about aspects of the case and the broader climate of impunity she believes surrounded the events of the 1980s and 1990s in Punjab. She and her children — Janmeet Singh Khalra and Navkiran Kaur Khalra — have continued to work publicly to document and highlight human rights violations from that era.

Personal life and family

Paramjit and Jaswant married in 1981 and had two children: a son, Janmeet Singh Khalra, and a daughter, Navkiran Kaur Khalra. Navkiran is noted as a human rights activist and is employed as a senior manager at a technology company in Milpitas, California. Janmeet is also involved in human rights work. Paramjit’s mother is named Gurbachan Kaur; other details about her father are not provided in the records cited.

Latest updates

In 2019 Paramjit’s election affidavit listed movable assets and reported immovable assets previously belonging to her late husband, including agricultural land, non-agricultural land share, and a residential property share. In 2022 she publicly announced that the Khalra family had given permission for a feature film about Jaswant’s life to proceed under the direction of Honey Trehan, a decision that was shared on her social media and acknowledged by the actor attached to the project.

Paramjit remains a public figure in Punjab for her political candidacies and continued human rights advocacy through the Khalra Mission Organisation.
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Recent Work

2019 Lok Sabha candidate, Khadoor Sahib

Contested the Khadoor Sahib seat as a Punjab Ekta Party candidate; received 214,489 votes.

2019
1999 Lok Sabha candidate, Tarn Taran

Resigned from her librarian post to contest the Tarn Taran seat on the Sarb Hind Shiromani Akali Dal ticket; was unsuccessful.

1999
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Career Highlights

  1. Joined and helped lead the Khalra Mission Organisation to continue Jaswant Singh Khalra’s human rights work
  2. Contested national elections in 1999 and 2019
  3. Pursued legal accountability in the case of her husband’s abduction and murder
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Paramjit Kaur Khalra (Jaswant Singh Khalra’s born?

1954

What is Paramjit Kaur Khalra (Jaswant Singh Khalra’s known for?

Politician, Human Rights Activist

What is Paramjit Kaur Khalra (Jaswant Singh Khalra’s’s marital status?

Widowed

Who is Paramjit Kaur Khalra (Jaswant Singh Khalra’s married to?

Jaswant Singh Khalra