The World Is Watching: Free Jagtar Singh Johal, #FreeJaggiNow

It’s emotions Sikhs have felt time and time again. As the anniversary comes of a murdered, missing, or imprisoned Sikh brother or sister, commemoration of the Sikh genocide, or the continued persecution of Sikhs in India, we learn, grieve, struggle, strive to be resilient, and then repeat, each year.

The emotions hit you in waves. I remember when and where I found out about Jagtar Singh Johal’s arrest in India. I carried it with me that day, all day, and it became one of the many layers all Sikhs carry: the suffocation of oppression, the truth and reality of India and the nonexistence of basic human rights, and knowing its sole purpose is to ingrain fear and submission.

While an 84-year-old Sikh man, by the name of Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa, continues his hunger strike to free Sikh political prisoners in India, forcibly confined in a hospital, another Sikh, 30-year-old British citizen of Dumbarton, Scotland Jagtar Singh Johal, was abducted and arrested by the Indian authorities on 4 November, 2017.

Jagtar (nickname Jaggi) was in India for his wedding in mid-October 2017. His horrific abduction occurred while he was out with his wife and relative, when Indian police officers, dressed in civilian clothing, threw a sack over his head and forced him into a vehicle.

Jaggi’s whereabouts were undisclosed and it was only when he was produced in court on 5 November, 2017 that his arrest became public knowledge.

While Indian politicians and the Chief Minister of Panjab, Captain Amarinder, have haphazardly declared Jaggi a convicted criminal, there has been no clear due process of law, including a charge, arrest, trial, and conviction.

Soon after, it was revealed that not only was Jaggi abducted and imprisoned, he was also being tortured.

The more he is kept away from the public, erratically accused of unsolved high-profile crimes, and denied visitation by counsel, the torture and gross mistreatment will continue - which is why his immediate release is of the utmost urgency.