CHANDIGARH Noted journalist and editor-in-chief of the Punjabi newspaper Rozana Pehredar, Jaspal Singh Heran, 

who was on the first Pegasus snoop list that came out in 2021, for voicing against suppression of Sikhs in India, passed away at 75 on Thursday. 

He has been ailing for long time and was bedridden for the past few weeks. He breathed his last in a hospital of Ludhiana. 

A resident of Jagran town of Ludhiana district of Punjab, Heran throughout his life practiced journalism for human rights. He served as senior correspondent Punjab Daily ‘Ajit’. In 2007, he launched daily Punjabi newspaper Rozana Pehredar. Through this newspaper, he had been serving the Sikh community by raising their issues fearlessly.

At the time, when almost all other newspapers and media houses favoured the interests of Indian establishment and failed to speak against the atrocities of the government, he turned out be defenders of the human rights of the suppressed sections including Sikhs. The government forces could never influence Heran’s pen. He always wrote editorials which were published on front page of the newspaper, under no pressure.

Demonstrating fearlessness, he openly published news stories and articles on the martyrs of pro-freedom Sikh struggle. Threats from Indian agencies could never stop his pen from flagging Sikh concerns. 

He came to limelight in 2021, when his name surfaced on the first Pegasus snoop list. This means that he was a potential target of surveillance by an Indian client of the Israeli NSO group. This kind of surveillance of the journalists was termed as shameful by human rights groups. 

His phone was hacked in 2017 and infected with Pegasus software. He was among 40 journalists who were spied upon through the software created by the group of Israel which has close ties with India. 

The Sikh leaders including Akal Takht jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) President Simranjit Singh Mann and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Harjinder Singh Dhami termed his demise as great loss to the Sikh nation owing to his contribution. 

Despite being sick, he continued to write editorials for his newspaper. His editorials also showed right path to the Sikh community in the hour of crisis. He always advocated the freedom of the Sikhs. Despite facing financial constraints, he never compromised over the ethics of journalism.