3 Singhs Arrested in Early Morning Raid
During Amritvela on Monday (21 Dec), 3 Singhs were arrested from their homes in the West Midlands and brought to Westminster magistrates court central London for an extradition hearing.
The indian state is seeking to extradite the 3 Singhs in relation to the assassination of RSS leader Rulda Singh in 2009. The RSS is a Hindu supremacist organisation.
Despite the threats of the police that the Singhs would be extradited immediately, or failing that spend years in prison under trial, the 3 Singhs were granted bail. Due to the nature of the allegations strict bail conditions were imposed. As all 3 Singhs were born in the uk extradition will be an uphill battle for india, and will be opposed by Sikh naujawan and organisations in the uk. The extradition trial itself will be a long and difficult fight, the Singhs have some of the best legal representation available through Birnberg Peirce Solicitors.
These politically motivated arrests have been made on unsubstantiated grounds, relating to allegations that have never been proven despite a major 11 month investigation which involved police from the uk travelling to india multiple times.
The timing of these arrests once again shows the deep collusion between Britain and india, coinciding with Dominic Raab’s visit india to tout a ‘10 year road map’ to further strengthen ties between the two countries.
These arrests represent the precarious existence faced by Sikhs in india and all over the world when the politics of Sikh sovereignty come to the forefront.
Whilst india continues to violently suppress all peaceful demonstrations within its borders, like the ongoing Kisaan protests, the state will continue to leverage its trade relationships to target the Sikh Panth in exile/diaspora through its allies such as Britain.
This is another illustration of the indian agenda to demonise Sikh resistance and criminalise Sikh dissent.