More than 400 Scottish Sikhs travelled in coaches all the way from Scotland to London in efforts to join upto thousand Sikhs protesting outside the Foreign Commonwealth Office in Whitehall on Thursday, against the arrest of Jagtar Singh Johal by Punjab Police for his alleged role in targeted killings in the state. He is accused of funding the purchase of weapons connected to the targeted killings of high-profile Hindus, and of “influencing the youth” by publishing material related to the deaths of thousands of Sikhs in pogroms in 1984.
Johal, more popularly known as Jaggi, was in India for his wedding since end of October. The 30-year-old Dumbarton man was with his new wife and his cousin when he was arrested on the street on November 4. The Punjab government has claimed that Jaggi is among a group of four suspects arrested on allegations of fanning communal disturbance in the state.
The shocked and concerned community in the UK have urged the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to intervene and have his rights as a British citizen protected. His brother Gurpreet Singh, 32, who travelled to London from Scotland, told protesters outside FCO told the government has failed to act on the case and accused it of stripping Sikhs of their rights.
He said: "They have got a duty to a British citizen. He's British by birth, he's not British by acquired nationality."
Using a megaphone to address the crowd, he added: "He has lived 30 years of his life in this country, if this is happening to him what rights do we have as British citizens?"
Supporter Shinda Singh, 64, travelled with more than 70 others from Birmingham to demand action from the Foreign Office. Baljit Singh, who travelled to protest with a coach of supporters from Southall, west London, said he met Jagtar through activism within the Sikh community. Another demonstrator, 37-year-old Ravinder Singh, of Bow, east London told the Daily Mail he did not know the family but wanted to support their efforts to have Mr Singh freed.
In the Foreign Office questions in the Commons on Tuesday, a Foreign Office minister has suggested that extreme action will be taken if allegations that a Scot arrested in India has been tortured by police are true.
A group of British MPs, led by the UK's first female Sikh MP Preet Kaur Gill has written to Foreign Commonwealth Office calling for an urgent investigation into the arrest. It has been countersigned by British Sikh MP Tanmanjeet Dhesi and other MPs from the cross-party All Party Parliamentary Group , including Lucy Allan, Alison Thewliss and Pat McFadden.
Gill in the letter said, "Given that the United Kingdom Government prides itself on its commitment to openness and transparency, we find it deeply concerning that the Indian Government have detained Jagtar in this manner...I and my colleagues urge you to investigate this matter with the utmost urgency and ensure that Jagtar's rights as a British citizen are preserved.”
The letter has also been shared with the High Commission of India in London, claims a "catalogue of failures" by the local authorities in Punjab since Johal's arrest and the failure of British consular services in the state to make contact with him.
It adds, "India is the largest democracy in the world and is rightly often touted as an example to others. As such, it is completely unacceptable that neither Jagtar's lawyer or a representative of the British High Commission were permitted to attend court proceedings on Friday 10 November”.
The APPG also called on the Indian government to share any information on Johal's connection to terrorist or criminal activity, as claimed by the local police, with its UK counterparts because both countries share a "deep and important intelligence partnership".
Rory Stewart, Minister of State at the Department for International Development told MPs in Commons on Tuesday that the Government was working closely to investigate the case of Jagtar Singh Johal.
During Foreign Office questions in the Commons, SNP's Martin Docherty-Hughes, MP for West Dunbartonshire, raised his constituent's case, and asked Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson what discussions he had with the Indian government about their human rights record in Punjab.
"Critically in relation to my constituent Jagtar Singh Johal who has been in custody since November 4 without charge and now with the possibility or the accusation of torture, the Prime Minister yesterday on BBC radio indicated their personal interest.
"Can the Secretary of State advise me and the House how he's working with the office of the Prime Minister to assist my constituent and his family in Dumbarton?"
Stewart said the case was being taken very seriously. He told MPs: "The Deputy High Commission managed to gain access – we have now had a meeting with the constituent.
"We take any allegation of torture very seriously, as indeed would the Indian government. It is completely unconstitutional – it is offensive to the British government – and we will work very closely to investigate and of course will take extreme action if a British citizen is being tortured."
The Sikh Federation UK, which is running a #freejagginow campaign, says no official charges have been brought against Jagtar, but local media reported that his arrest was linked to the killing of Hindu leaders in Punjab. The group has been lobbying for action from the British government to secure the release of a "law-abiding British citizen".
While the 10 Downing Streets has not issued an official statement, Prime Minister Theresa May told the BBC Asian Network, “I am aware of the concerns being expressed about Jagtar Singh Johal. Representatives from Foreign Office have met Johal and pursuing the case and watching what is happening with concern and will take actions necessary.”
According to a report by the PTI Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, said that those arrested were using encrypted mobile software and apps for communication with handlers based in Pakistan and had been trained abroad.
"Breakthrough in targeted killings with arrest of 4, conspiracy was hatched by #ISI on foreign soil to spread communal disturbances," he said in a recent tweet.
The "targeted killings" refer to the deaths of Shiv Sena's Amit Arora; RSS leaders Durgadas Gupta, Jagdish Gagneja and Ravinder Gosain; Sri Hindu Takht official Amit Sharma; Dera Sacha Sauda followers Satpal and Ramesh Kumar and Pastor Sultan Masih.
