Sikh Council Condemns Indian Supreme Court Decision on Professor Bhullar

Sikh Council UK today expressed its concern and condemned the refusal to commute the death sentence of Professor Devinderpal Singh Bhullar by the Indian Supreme Court. This decision comes on the back of India’s recent decision to restart carrying out death sentences following an eight year moratorium. Two death sentences have been carried out since November 2012 with many hundreds more sentenced to death each year and around forty currently held on death row.

Chair of Indian Sub-Continent Affairs Sub-Committee, Gurdial Singh Atwal, said, “We totally condemn the use of capital punishment and the decision by India to restart capital punishment is totally abhorrent after the moratorium. In this particular case, the evidence against Professor Bhullar is clearly in doubt and to not recognise that is a great miscarriage of justice by the Indian justice system.”

The Sikh community has consistently held strong views against capital punishment with persistent campaigning to highlight miscarriages of justice and against the death penalty by the Sikh Federation (UK) and others over many years. This stance was recently reinforced by a 118,000 name petition coordinated by the Keshri Lehar campaign which resulted in a parliamentary debate on abolition of the death penalty in India. Gurdial Singh Atwal added,

“Professor Bhullar was deported wrongly by the German authorities on false promises that he would not face the death penalty. We now call upon authorities in the UK, Germany and across Europe to urgently make representations to India before it is too late.”

Sikh Council UK has many affiliated organisations and works with many other individuals and organisations who wish to express their strong views and campaign against this latest turn of events. Sikh Council UK is encouraging the UK wide Sikh community to speak out on this issue by contacting their MP’s and the media to highlight the plight of Professor Bhullar

Sikh Council UK is eagerly awaiting the written judgement of the Indian Supreme Court and in order to maximise the Sikh voice, will be assisting various Sikh organisations in the co-ordination and planning of protests and lobbying activities over the coming days.

The Sikh Council UK today called for comprehensive and urgent action by the next Punjab Government following the leak of the findings of the Justice Zora Singh Commission.

The Commission was established in October 2015 by the Punjab Government following the desecrations of the holy Sikh scriptures the Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab and the subsequent killings of unarmed Sikhs who had gathered to protest against the desecrations

The principal findings and recommendations of the Commission were that: –

> The investigations by the Punjab Police into the incidents of the desecrations of Guru Granth Sahib at villages Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari were flawed and improper

> Punjab Police officers fired riffle bullets at Sikhs protesting the desecrations at Kotakpura
Chowk injuring seven including Ajit Singh grievously

> The Punjab Police subsequently failed to provide CCTV footage to the Commission in relation
to the events at Kotakpura Chowk giving inconsistent reasons why it was not available

> Punjab Police officers fired riffle bullets from point blank range of approximately a yard out at unarmed Sikhs who were sitting on the floor peacefully protesting at the desecrations at Behbal Kalan killing Gurjeet Singh and Krishan Bhagwan Singh and injuring six others some grievously

> The firing upon ‘defenceless protestors’ sitting on the floor at Behbal Kalan was ‘absolutely unwarranted’ and ‘beyond comprehension’ and not in self-defence as alleged by the Punjab Police; the Punjab Police officers interviewed provided inconsistent and false testimonies to the Commission in relation to the events at Behbal Kalan

> The Punjab Police failed to undertake any alternative crowd control measures in the courses of policing the protests at Behbal Kalan such as loud speaker warnings or use of watercannons, tear-gas, latti charge, firing in the air, use of rubber bullets etc.

> The Commission recommended a criminal investigation is undertaken to identify the police officers responsible for the firings including reviewing the complicity of the SSP in charge Charanjit Singh Sharma and that charges are laid against the offenders before a court of law within 6 months

Sikh Council UK Chair of Indian Subcontinent Affairs Sub-committee Gurdial Singh Atwal said “It is shocking that the Commission report has laid dormant for the past year with the Akali-BJP Punjab Government despite the clear findings. We are calling for immediate action by the next Punjab Government to implement the recommendations of the Commission against the guilty officials and also calling for a high level and independent investigation to be undertaken as a matter of urgency into the deliberate desecrations of religious scriptures that have occurred in recent years within Punjab”.

He added “It has been alleged the inaction of the Punjab authorities to bring the culprits to justice has been motivated by political calculations in the lead up to upcoming state elections in Punjab by way of seeking to gain the favour of political block voting of certain anti-Sikh groups whose members have even been suspected of having involvement in the incidents of desecrations. These allegations have gained more traction in recent days in light of the decision of the Dera Sacha Sauda cult group to support the Akali-BJP alliance political parties in the impending election following the visit by a number of prospective candidates of Shiromani Akali Dal to the Dera Sacha Sauda to garner the votes of the followers of this group in flagrant breach of the 2007 Hukamnama (edict) of the Akal Takhat which mandated Sikhs to socially and politically boycott this group for its anti-Sikh activities. We are calling upon the Akal Takhat to summon those Sikh representatives of the Shiromani Akali Dal for defying the Hukamnama”.