National Sikh Police Association face community backlash for #FreeJaggiNow statement

The National Sikh Police Association UK received a furious community backlash for a statement referencing recent news about India’s Scottish political prisoner Jagtar “Jaggi” Singh Johal being spied on by UK intelligence.

The official #FreeJaggiNow campaign, The Sikh Federation UK and Sikh Council UK were among various Sikh orgs and individuals critical of the statement released this week, which denied any involvement from the NSPA UK with the Indian state or UK intelligence services regarding Jaggi’s imprisonment.

Human rights anti-torture NGO Reprieve revealed this week they discovered details of a case in a UK investigatory powers commissioner report which exactly matched the case of Jaggi, exposing the role of UK intelligence services MI5 and MI6 in getting the Scotsman abducted and subsequently tortured by Indian authorities in 2017. In 2018, information cited as coming from Jaggi’s torture was used by UK police to conduct raids on five Sikh activists.

Reprieve’s revelations resulted in mass condemnation of the actions of UK intelligence from MPs, Sikhs and general human rights supporters across the world. This condemnation comes based on a growing understanding that Jaggi is just one of many Sikh activists targeted by India for revealing the country’s human rights abuses. Such activism is viewed as the reason various other UK Sikh activists have been subjected to police raids, extradition attempts, property seizing, travel bans and more by UK authorities.

Within Sikh community discussions about the issue of spying and policing, the role of the National Sikh Police Association was raised and questioned. Many within Sikh panth (path/community focused) circles have complained that the NSPA UK has acted as a buffer for UK police, deflecting complaints and criticisms regarding the policing of the Sikh community to instead present an image of cosy relations between Sikhs and the police, whilst various community issues go on unaddressed.

Issues of this kind include (but are not limited to):

• The discovery of a police officer covertly “gathering intelligence” on Sikhs and then being involved in Sikh officer recruitment
• The involvement of Sikh officers in raids on Sikh activists based on what Indian media called “diplomatic pressure” on the UK
• The lack of action on an officer punching a Sikh man unprovoked, which was caught on camera
• Members of the NSPA UK pushing a “Sikh extremism” narrative, which justifies India’s targeting of activists

Seemingly in response to criticisms, the NSPA UK released their statement which said they aim to ensure “the Sikh interest is better understood” encouraged the Foreign Office to “lobby the relevant authorities to be granted regular access to Jagtar Singh Johal and document his treatment”.

In response, the Free Jaggi Now team highlighted how NSPA UK have never previously reached out to their team, whilst also stating the statement was an effort for “damage limitation” and “They do not have our best interests at heart.”

The Sikh Council UK directly asked “Will you STOP working with @PunjabPoliceInd due to their active role in the torture of a British national?”, based on reports that India based officers have visited their UK counterparts and even took part in raids on Sikh activists.

The Sikh Federation UK stated “you’re an internal Police network that has confused & betrayed the community with questionable actions. Your colleagues @WMPolice are complicity in acting on & providing intel used to torture Jaggi!”.

The SFUK tweet refers to how the torture of Jaggi was used to name Sikh activists he worked with in the UK, who were then raided by UK police. These activists’ names ended up in Indian media within less than 24-hours of the raids, an indicating a link between the actions of the UK police forces and India. Leaking the names of those raided is said to be a breach of protocol, according to Sikh PA sources. No UK Police groups have ever attempted to explain how those names ended up in Indian media.

Further evidence of UK-India collusion was also exposed through documents that named Jaggi among UK based activists targeted for police raids. When the NSPA UK was formally launched in 2019, WMP Chief Constable talked about police “tensions” with the Sikh community regarding “Indian extremism” (believed to be based on support for Khalistan, a free Sikh homeland), before talking of the “operational” involvement of the WMP Sikh Police Association, which has been running since 2013. This is believed to revolve around the same 2018 raids which came from information extracted from the torture of Jaggi. Such incidents are what led to a UK wide ban on police from entering Sikh spaces in promotional capacity.

The backlash towards the NSPA UK further underlines calls from groups like Sikh Federation UK that the association should be disbanded, echoed by various Sikhs including some that work with police in a liaison role.

Speaking on this issue, Sikh PA Senior Press Officer Jasveer Singh said, “The NSPA UK’s statement triggered release of sentiments that have been around for years but became more publicised since the 2018 #5SinghsUK raids, which have been noted as happening due to information taken from the torture of Jaggi. “The fact is, many Sikhs feel UK police have been carrying out the dirty-work of Indian authorities in how they have targeted various Sikh activists, something which Indian media have openly stated is the case.

“The outcome of these raids, including the #WestMidlands3 fiasco, has not seen prosecutions for anything, let alone something that could be construed as terrorism towards India, which is usually mentioned as what is behind the targeting. The role of UK Sikh police officers within this has been seemingly to either ignore or on occasion justify this targeting of UK Sikhs.”

Media wanting more information on these issues can email media@sikhpa.com.