Foreign Secretary expected to be challenged in Parliament on Jagtar Singh Johal case

Next Tuesday, the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy (pictured above), will answer oral and topical questions in the House of Commons before the House rises for the summer recess. 

MPs are expected to ask Lammy about his visit to India, including what he did or did not do concerning raising the case of British national Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been tortured and held in arbitrary detention in an Indian jail since November 2017. 

Many were surprised when Lammy avoided using the phrase “arbitrary detention” when interviewed by BBC reporter James Landale about Jagtar Singh Johal in India. However, Keir Starmer and Lammy have repeatedly used this phrase in opposition when questioning Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak.

Sources have suggested to the Sikh Federation that David Lammy specifically discussed Jagtar’s arbitrary detention in meetings in Delhi. Supposedly, he told the External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar, that the UK Government policy requires them to call for the release and return to the UK of all UK nationals held in arbitrary detention. He made this demand in Jagtar’s case but has decided to keep the call private for now.

India’s response to Lammy was very defensive. It argued that Jagtar faces serious charges and that the judicial process is underway. India claimed that the UK should not interfere in India’s judicial process. This may be why Lammy gave a very defensive interview to the BBC. Lammy now realises the considerable diplomatic pressure on India, involving Britain’s allies, will be required to secure Johan’s release.

Lammy also discussed the need for the Indian government to fully cooperate with the Canadian authorities investigating the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil and the murder plot of Sikh activists in the US and Canada. More broadly, he told his counterpart the Indian government must respect the rule of law and stop its repressive activities abroad against Sikh activists, including on UK soil.

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office is understood to have informed its Canadian and US partners that this matter has been raised at the most senior levels. Still, it is being determined if Lammy raised this directly with Narendra Modi, whom he also met.

Unsurprisingly, India raised concerns about Sikh activists in the UK and elsewhere campaigning for an independent Sikh State, Khalistan. Lammy was receptive and listened to problems. Still, he reiterated that Sikhs in Britain, like others, also enjoy the freedom to campaign for self-determination. The UK Government could not interfere unless any activities were deemed unlawful according to UK and not Indian laws.

Dabinderjit Singh, the Principal Adviser to the Sikh Federation (UK), said: “We expect MPs from across the political spectrum to write to David Lammy to explain his discussions with his counterpart on the need for Jagtar’s immediate release and return to the UK.

“Labour’s Douglas McAllister, who has replaced Martin Docherty-Hughes from the Scottish National Party as Jagtar’s MP, has a greater responsibility to pressure his government to call for Jagtar’s release and return to Scotland to be with his family.

“It has been reported in The Times that Douglas McAllister has taken up Jagtar’s case with David Lammy, but his family, the wider Sikh community, and the public have a right to know that the Foreign Secretary is robustly taking up Jagtar’s case.” 

He continued: “Unfortunately, in David Lammy’s BBC interview with James Lansdale in Delhi, he gave the impression he is backtracking now that he’s in government. Jagtar’s family, including his brother, were shocked and deeply offended by David Lammy’s public reference to India’s judicial system.

“In questions to the Foreign Secretary on Tuesday, MPs given the opportunity should challenge David Lammy to explain why he referred to India’s judicial system when Jeremy Hunt as Foreign Secretary told his wife more than five years ago in April 2019 that he would not get a fair trial in India.”