Sunak speaks to Indian PM on detention of Scot

The prime minister mentioned that he had a discussion with the Indian prime minister concerning a Scottish Sikh individual who has been held by Indian authorities since 2017.

Rishi Sunak was under pressure to bring attention to the situation of Jagtar Singh Johal, who is from Dumbarton. His family says that he has been tortured.

Over 70 Members of Parliament requested that Mr. Sunak advocate for his release.

Earlier this week, the government decided not to get involved in the case.

But after talking to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Sunak confirmed that he brought up the case along with other matters related to embassies and citizens.

He didn’t give any specifics, but he stated that the foreign office is still helping Mr. Johal’s family and will continue to help them.

Mr Johal, a 36-year-old advocate for Sikh human rights, went to India in October 2017 to get married.

He was out shopping with his wife when suddenly his family saw him being taken away by policemen wearing regular clothes from the Punjab Police. They forced him into a car that didn’t have any official markings.

He said that he was hurt and mistreated by officers for several days and they shocked his private parts with electricity. Then they made him sign a paper without anything written on it.

The Indian authorities say that these accusations are not true.

Mr Johal has been held in Indian prisons for a long time because he is accused of paying for weapons that were used to kill some Hindu religious and political leaders from the right-wing party in Punjab.

‘Speaking without purpose has no value’

He is currently accused of planning to kill people for political reasons in India, and he might be sentenced to death if found guilty.

He says he didn’t do what they accuse him of, and claims that his arrest and trial are motivated by politics.

The UK government has said that it won’t ask for Mr Johal to be released right away because that might seem like they are interfering with the legal process and it might not be what’s best for him.

On the airplane going to Delhi, Mr. Sunak was asked if he would be discussing the case. He replied that he would be talking about many things with Prime Minister Modi, and reassured people that the case has already been brought up multiple times before.

On Friday, Mr Johal’s brother, Gurpreet, who is a lawyer and a Labour councillor, accused Mr Sunak of letting Mr Johal stay in prison and not helping him.

After finding out that Mr. Sunak was involved, he said: “I’m glad that the prime minister has brought up my brother’s situation with his counterpart, but just discussing it is not sufficient unless he has demanded Jagtar’s release in accordance with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’s conclusions.

Clearly, the prime minister had to address Jagtar’s situation because many Members of Parliament asked him to.

I am worried that the UK government is only saying things without actually doing anything. The campaign continues until Jagtar returns home to Scotland.

‘Not having enough people to lead’

The director of the human rights group Reprieve, Maya Foa, said that Theresa May brought up Jagtar’s case. Boris Johnson also did it. However, even though he was taken against his will and subjected to severe pain and suffering, he continues to be held in jail after six years. He now faces the chance of being sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.

The government frequently claims that ministers have brought up the situation many times, as if that diminishes their responsibility for not working harder to free a British citizen who is being held without reason.

“What did Rishi Sunak tell Narendra Modi about the situation and how did he react. Without getting these answers, the prime minister’s conversation doesn’t have much meaning. ”

Dabinderjit Singh, an important advisor to the Sikh Federation, said that Mr. Sunak had seemed unwilling to support the Scottish case since he became Prime Minister almost a year ago, until he was pushed by pressure from Members of Parliament to do so.

He said: “But he has shown his weakness and lack of leadership by not fighting for the rights of a British citizen and asking for Jagtar to be released right away.

Rishi Sunak and his team from the Foreign Office are saying things that don’t make sense when it comes to Jagtar’s well-being and fairness.

“They seem afraid and confused about how to apply diplomatic pressure on India, so they are relying on the corrupt Indian judicial system. ”