“It’s possible we’re looking at Litvinenko part two”- Inquiry demanded for suspected poisoning of Sikh activist
An official demand for a judicial inquiry into the suspected poisoning of Shaheed (martyr) Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda was launched yesterday, led by renowned human rights focused barrister Michael Polak.
A press conference, held jointly with the Sikh Federation UK, was held in Church Court Chambers in London, UK, (02.10.23) where Polak, acting on behalf of the family of Shaheed (martyr) Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda, said an official request for an inquest into the sudden passing of Khanda had been submitted to the UK Chief Coroner.
The letter requests that a senior coroner hold an inquiry into “the highly suspicious circumstances” of Khanda’s death, which came just months after Indian military figure Major Gaurav Arya claimed the Khalistan (free Sikh homeland) advocated would be “eliminated”.
The request also asked this investigation be held external to West Midlands
police, as there is a “lack of trust” between Sikh communities and West Midlands police, leading to a belief they may be involved in covering up the murder of Khanda.
Reasons for this include a random accusation of Sikhs posing a threat to the West Midlands public by Senior Officer Matt Ward, and the role of the West Midlands Police in a series of raids on Sikh activists which Indian media claimed were run as a result of “diplomatic pressure”. Indian media also obtained clearly leaked information of those raided which could have only come from WMP and/or UK Counter-Terror police sources. There is also a recent incident of a blatant hate crime by a WMP officer on a Sikh man which the Police Complaints Commission dismissed.
A judicial inquiry would be the opening to hold an official inquest, which would give the confidentiality necessary for the UK’s intelligence network partners of Five Eyes (USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia) to give evidence concerning their security services that may relate to the case.
Polak said at the press conference:
“We are calling on the chief coroner to direct an inquest into Mr Khanda’s death and whether his right to life was properly protected, given the public threats which were made. We hope that a senior judge will be appointed to carry out this inquest given the serious issues that it must consider.”
Many aspects of the case were discussed at the press conference, including the way Khanda was demonised by Indian media, how he was a constant target for Hindu extremist Indian nationalist threats to his life and the way Indian Intelligence Agencies portrayed him due to his association with the Khalistan movement.
The Indian targeting of Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda peaked after a protest in London on the 19th of March 2023 where the Indian flag was momentarily pulled down outside the Indian embassy. Although video evidence shows otherwise, Indian media shamelessly propagated a narrative that Khanda was behind the flag incident and was arrested for it (also false). The false allegations were followed by police arresting Avtar Singh’s mother and sister in Punjab, causing great concern in Sikh communities across the world due to a history of female detainees being subjected to sexual abuse by Indian police being a well known issue.
After the passing of both Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda and Bhai Hardeep Singh Nijjar within a week of eachother in June, a news report by Aaj Tak, an Indian news channel, showed Khanda’s picture alongside Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s, stating both had now been “eliminated”, seemingly admitted India were behind the murders.
Khanda’s fast deterioration in hospital, after doctors believed there was a high chance of recovery, was also discussed. Khanda had met many members of the British Sikh community at the 1984 remembrance event in Trafalgar Square on the 4th of June 2023 and was in good health. Just days later, on the 11th of June, he was admitted to Sandwell Hospital where he was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Doctors believed that there was a high chance of recovery according to the family. However, on the morning of the 15th of June 2023, after a steep decline in his health, Khanda was pronounced dead.
The West Midlands Police and the coroner to investigate Khanda’s death at the time were also accused of serious failures during the press conference. West Midlands Police made no effort to investigate the case, they did not search his house or interview his associates. Those supporting Khanda’s family during the time after his passing revealed that the mortuary staff were reportedly told by the NCA (National Crime Agency) to seal up the body and not allow anyone access. Despite requests from the family, just hours after Khanda’s passing they were told that there would be no investigation into the circumstances around his death.
Sikh Federation UK spokespeople also revealed that Birmingham hospital refused to conduct a post-mortem, and when a private post-mortem was arranged, the senior coroner in charge of Khanda refused to allow this. However, there are still blood samples from Khanda during his last days that could be tested in this coming investigation.
Read more about the suspicious circumstances around Shaheed (martyr) Bhai Avtar Singh Khanda’s death here.
The press conference underlined that the threats made to Khanda’s life were not taken seriously by authorities. The way that the investigation was handled calls into question whether the British authorities and security services have undertaken collusive activity with the Indian authorities, according to Sikh Federation UK.
Dabinderjit Singh from the Sikh Federation (UK) said:
“You’ve got a situation where in the last two weeks, hand on heart, several sources told us that they’ve spoken to British intelligence sources who say that there’s been foul play.”
Concern was also relayed about the fact that the UK authorities have not warned any Sikh community figures of a potential threat to their lives, as has been done by the US and Canadian governments, again calling into question whether the British authorities have properly acted to protect the British Sikh community. Various Sikh community figures in the UK are still targeted by Indian threats.
Because of all of this, Polak believes that the legal threshold to open an investigation into Khanda’s death is not just met but exceeded, with Polak saying this should have already been carried out.
Polak stated:
“Given the timing of Mr Khanda’s death, and the fact that death threats had been made by those with connections to Indian politics before his death, his case is at the very least suspicious.”
There are several cases, such as that of Alexander Perepilichnyy who died in 2015, where evidence of poisoning was only found in a private post-mortem. Polak worked on the case of Alexander Litvinenko who was poisoned by Russian agents in London in 2006. At the conference Polak simply stated that:
“When you put it all together it’s quite possible that we’re looking at a Litvinenko part two case here.”
In a sign of Indian media’s ongoing unprofessional nature (which sees it ranked below the Taliban’s Afghanistan for press freedom), Sikh Federation UK also highlighted disappointment that outlets including The Hindu broke embargo rules to reveal information about the request for an inquiry before the press conference took place.
A spokesperson for the Chief Coroner said a response would be forthcoming in due course.
Media inquiries- Har-Rai@SikhPA.com.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!