Jagtar Singh Johal’s lawyer speaks on detained Briton’s case and torture in India

During a visit to the United Kingdom, the lawyer of Jagtar Singh Johal has spoken about the torture faced by the detained Briton in Punjab, India.

The comments came during an interview Manjhpur gave to Sikh TV station KTV.

During his ten-day visit, Manjhpur attended several events and spoke about human rights, and in particular, his experience of Sikh political prisoners in Punjab.

Mr Manjhpur was due to visit the UK earlier this year, but his visa was denied by the British authorities.

In his interview to Sikh TV channel KTV, Manjhpur spoke extensively about Jagtar Singh’s case.

He spoke about the physical torture Jagtar Singh faced, including electrocution and the stretching of his legs. Manjhpur said that reports of this kind of torture were ‘normal’ to Punjabis and he referenced reports from the Punjab State Human Rights Commission of custodial deaths and torture in the Indian state.

He said that it has been so long since the torture that the signs of electrocution would have faded by now if any medical examination is conducted. ‘The circumstances certainly indicate that the torture happened. [Jagtar] has said it himself, and he’s said it in his letters to the British High Commission that have been given to the government.’ Manjhpur also recalled how Jagtar Singh told him in person on 17^th November 2017 about the torture he experienced.

Jagtar Singh’s lawyer also added that while the physical torture may have stopped, the mental torture of Jagtar Singh is ongoing.

He spoke about how police superintendents – who are responsible for presenting Jagtar Singh in court – disobey court orders from the judge to present Jagtar Singh in court, branding them ‘delay tactics’. He added that they were used not just against Jagtar Singh individually, but generally against political prisoners.

‘This has been the system since from when we were born to now when we’ve become old,’ Manjhpur said, adding that it is not the result of any individual person or party but that it is the ‘state system’.

The interview came after the week commemorating the martyrdoms of the four Sahibzadeh (sons) of the 10^th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Manjhpur recounted the message of the commemoration that ‘we must stand for truth and our rights … and that we mobilise to free people from physical slavery as per Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s teachings’.

Finally, Manjhpur acknowledged the sad reality that political repression of Sikhs in Punjab was bound to continue by saying ‘this is neither the first nor the last case for us.’

Sunday 27^th January 2019 will mark 450 days of detention in India for Jagtar Singh Johal.