Bbc News - Bhai Paramjeet Singh Dhadhi

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

Campaign to free

Sikh activist

The family of a British man accused by Indian

police of planning to unrest in Punjab and

possessing explosives are campaigning for his

freedom.

Paramjeet Singh, 54, from Wednesfield in the West

Midlands, has been in prison in Punjab since he was

arrested on December 23.

The Indian authorities say they found explosives and

firearms on land belonging to Mr Singh, a folk singer.

Campaigners want Gordon Brown to raise Mr Singh's

case

The Foreign Office are aware of claims that he has

been ill-treated.

A spokeswoman said a representative from the British

High Commission had visited Mr Singh in prison and was

in regular contact with his family.

The case of Mr Singh, who has four children and four

grandchildren, is backed by his local MP, Ken

Purchase, and by fellow Wolverhampton MP Rob Marris,

chairman of the all-party Parliamentary group for UK

Sikhs.

Mr Purchase's office said they hope Chancellor Gordon

Brown will raise Mr Singh's plight during his

three-day visit to India, which begins on January 17.

"We're 110 per cent confident that my father will be

cleared of all the charges"

Ravi Gakhal, daughter

Mr Singh, a retired foundry worker, is due to appear

in court again on Friday (January 19) when officials

are expected to set out a timetable for his trial.

Mr Singh, who uses 'Punjab Singh' as a stage name, his

wife Balvinder and three-year-old niece Sukhmani had

been in India since October to work on the family's

holiday home in their native Punjab.

Four days before they were due to fly home, Mr Singh

was arrested as he returned by car from a religious

function.

His daughter Ravi Gakhal, who works as a solicitor in

Birmingham, said her father had been beaten up and

humiliated to try to force him to confess to a crime

he did not commit.

'Tearful'

He was stripped of his clothes and belongings

including religious items such as his shorts, bangle

and dagger and made to stand naked all night. He was

also kicked and punched and his arms and legs were

pulled wide apart, said Miss Gakhal.

She said the torture had stopped after her father

complained to a judge who ordered daily medical

reports to be made on him.

"We're 110 per cent confident that my father will be

cleared of all the charges, it's a fit-up, but we

still worry and his niece cries for him. She keeps

asking where he is.

"All Indian prisons are poor and although my father

always adjusts well to his circumstances, this has

knocked him. At his first court hearing he was tearful

because he could not believe that they were doing this

to him."

Human rights campaigner

Miss Gakhal said the case against him was full of

discrepancies. For example the police initially

claimed that the explosives were found in the car he

was travelling in.

Later they said they were on land near his holiday

home - although Indian newspapers report that the

police did not visit the area until after his arrest.

The Sikh Federation, which aims to give UK Sikhs a

political voice, said that Mr Singh was well known as

a human rights campaigner, folk singer and preacher.

It said his outspoken views had led to his wrongful

arrest and imprisonment by the Indian authorities four

years ago. On that occasion the charges against him

were later dropped.

The federation said it was co-ordinating an international

political campaign to exert pressure on the Indian

authorities and had already contacted over 200 UK MPs

and all UK MEPs in the last 10 days.

Miss Gakhal said she believed her father's

imprisonment was connected to next month's elections

in Punjab.

Mr Singh had been travelling with Bhai Jasbir Singh, a

leading figure in the international Sikh community.

------------------------------------------------

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/6268373.stm

Published: 2007/01/16 18:17:57 GMT

------------------------------------------------

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

Visit the sticky topic titled "Campaign To Free Three Sikhs" under the 'GENERAL | WHAT'S HAPPENING?' section of SikhSangat.com for all discussion and further information about the campaign to free Bhai Paramjeet Singh (Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, UK) and two other GurSikhs from India:

http://www.sikhsangat.com/index.php?showtopic=23534

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[Nirvair S Khalsa]

Please note: Those who have read before the 'Edit Time' (10.02pm-16/01/07), that the BBC have edited this news report slightly (to make it more accurate) since it was originally posted (7.22pm-16/01/07). The first post has now been edited with the new updated news report...

Vaheguroo Jee Kaa Khalsa, Vaheguroo Jee Kee Phateh!!!

[Pakandi baba]

May Waheguru help him! - Brown had better do somthing or else. Muslims get represented by prince charles etc etc.