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Civil Liberties Group Protests Mistreatment of Sikh Activist by Indian Authorities
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83-year-old Surat Singh has been on a fast-unto-death for 72 days
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (“PUCL”) has expressed concern over the condition of the activist who has been on a fast-unto-death seeking release of Sikh political prisoners who are being detained illegally in India‘s jails.
Describing the Punjab government’s response to the protest as “indifferent and insensitive,” the Punjab and Haryana units of the PUCL said the authorities had “forcibly stitched a food pipe to his forehead to force-feed him.”
“The PUCL is shocked at the cruel and callous manner in which the Punjab Police, with the support of medical authorities, have reportedly stitched a food pipe to his [Surat Singh’s] forehead to force-feed him, breaking his fast in a manner reminiscent of the way in which [Manipuri activist] Irom Sharmila has been force-fed over many years,” it said.
The “unhygienic, unscientific” act had caused an infection on the activist’s forehead, the PUCL said.
“If true, it amounts to inflicting torture, inhuman, cruel, degrading and illegal treatment. Bapu Surat Singh is engaged in a non-violent, democratic act of asserting his right to protest. The State is denying him his right to protest with human dignity,” the organisation said in a statement.
“It is imperative that the Punjab government responds with a sense of urgency and alacrity to the democratic demands of Bapu Surat Singh, who seeks the release of all prisoners who have completed their term but have been kept in jail for many years.”
Surat Singh has been on a fast since January 16, 2015, demanding the release of “political prisoners” who have completed their terms of imprisonment. He was detained by the government on February 8 and admitted to the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, under police security.
“In order to break his resolve, the police undertook inhuman and unacceptable practices; his family was prevented from being with him and taking care of him,” the statement said adding that the police had been “scaring away” visitors by threatening them.
Surat Singh was a government-school teacher before he resigned his job in 1984 in protest against the “mass killing of Sikhs”.
The Punjab government has said that the release of political prisoners could not be processed because of an interim stay by the Supreme Court in the ‘Union of India v. Sriharan Murugan’ case relating to the remission and release of prisoners.
The PUCL asked the State government to ensure the activist’s safety and good health.
March 30, 2015
Conversation about this article
1: Kaala Singh (Punjab), March 30, 2015, 11:50 AM.
There is absolutely no legal justification for holding prisoners who have completed their sentences. Also, the Jammu & Kashmir government recently released a political prisoner in a similar situation. The government of Punjab is taking its orders from the Indian state, the same state which refuses to prosecute and punish the genocidal criminals that carried out the mass murders of various minorities, including Sikhs, Christians, Muslims and Dalits. How can a state that rewards the mass-murderers of minorities with money and plum posts be expected to be fair to those who opposed their criminal actions? Terrorizing the minorities into submission is the state policy in India and those who oppose this policy will continue to suffer. Stooges like the Badals in Punjab and the Abdullahs in Kashmir will always be there to implement these policies. Can anyone explain why the Abdullah government in Kashmir did to investigate the Chittisingpora massacre of Sikhs despite overwhelming evidence that the Indian army was criminally and directly behind it?
2: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), March 31, 2015, 1:42 PM.
I wonder if the Indian government would shove a food pipe up Mohandas Gandhi's nose.
3: Rup Singh (Canada), March 31, 2015, 5:46 PM.
@1 - I totally agree. Evil-doers can only be expected to do more evil and not be fair or just. Also, what are the so-called panthic leaders in India or in the diaspora doing for this courageous man? I guess they are only good at shouting slogans and looting the coffers.
4: Kaala Singh (Punjab), April 02, 2015, 12:54 PM.
@3: You need to dig further to understand the situation in Punjab. It is not what seems on the surface. The main support base for the Badal family is the rural farmers who have failed to change or develop with the changing times. Most of these farmers are illiterate and practice primitive agriculture which is unprofitable and unviable and most of these farmers are under heavy debt. They demand subsidies and freebies and the economy of Punjab can't support that. To stay in power Badal is continuously borrowing money to support these doles and this is adding to the debt of Punjab and they are paying a huge interest on this debt every year to the point that there is no money for anything else. In Badal's own fiefdom of Bathinda region, people are dying of cancer because of water contamination and there is no money to clean up the water. Any government in Punjab is continuously begging the Central government for money and therefore loses any bargaining power to get anything done. The Centre can and has squeezed Punjab just by changing the interest rates. Punjab in its present state has no choice but to dance on the tunes of the Central government. Hence I do not see anyone -- panthic or otherwise who can help.
5: Kaala Singh (Punjab), April 02, 2015, 11:20 PM.
Punjab was supposed to be for the Sikhs what Israel is to Jews but that is not the case. Anybody who migrated to Punjab from other parts of India after the 1984 massacres will testify to this fact. It simply does not have the capacity to absorb and help people from outside, as there are no jobs or business opportunities and people with parochial attitudes and a political culture which is thoroughly corrupt and whose only objective is to capture power to plunder and steal. Anyone who tries to fix things is booted out. As an example: the previous government of Amarinder Singh tried to reduce the subsidies and put the economy back on track, he lost the next election as the rural populace got annoyed. He terminated the water sharing agreement with Haryana, which was a very brave thing to do and what helped him was a good revenue surplus and he could act from a position of strength. I do not see Punjab becoming an "Israel" for Sikhs in the near future and hence people like this brave old man will achieve little with their efforts.
6: Kaala Singh (Punjab), April 04, 2015, 12:39 PM.
The Indian government recently conferred the second highest civilian award to Badal. One may ask what has he done to get this award when the people he represents are dying of cancer in his own constituency? He has been dancing to the tune of the Indian state and that is why he got this award. Unless Sikhs of all hues unite and develop their internal strength through education, economics and in every other sense, there is no way forward. The easy money that Badal is giving via subsidies is going into drugs and alcohol and is doing more harm than good. Sikhs in rural Punjab unfortunately are going the way of the natives of North America who were put on drugs and made good for nothing by the invading Europeans.