Sikh Federation responds to the Prime Minister ahead of G20 Summit

It has been reported that Keir Starmer (pictured above) as PM will be meeting Narendra Modi one to one for the first time at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the next 48 hours.

At the G20 Summit in Delhi last September Rishi Sunak was pressured and forced to raise the case of Jagtar Singh Johal.

The difference now is Keir Starmer accepts Jagtar Singh Johal has been tortured and been in arbitrary detention in an Indian jail for over 7 years.  

Also at Prime Ministers Questions on 6 November Jagtar’s MP Douglas McAllister asked for a reassurance from the Prime Minister and his Government that “they would do all they can to secure Jagtar’s immediate release and bring him home”.

In response Keir Starmer said “Yes. We are committed to pushing the Government of India on this important case.”   

Dabinderjit Singh OBE, the Sikh Federation’s Lead Executive for political engagement said:”Keir Starmer has a fantastic opportunity at the G20 Summit to show he is a strong Prime Minister and a man of his word who stands up for British citizens.

He must follow up on the promise he made in Parliament to Jagtar’s Labour MP on 6 November and push Narendra Modi in Rio de Janeiro to immediately release Jagtar and bring him home.

He knows Jeremy Hunt when he was Foreign Secretary told Jagtar’s wife more than 5 years ago in April 2019 that Jagtar had no chance of a fair trial in India.”

He added: “He should therefore be telling Narendra Modi in no uncertain terms that the UK has no trust in a system that allows torture, confessional statements obtained under duress and has produced no evidence in 7 years.”  

Keir Starmer accepts Jagtar and his family have suffered enough in the last 7 years while he has been in prison awaiting trial.  He must bring the anguish and suffering for Jagtar and his family to an end.”

Recently the Sikh Federation (UK) wrote to Keir Starmer to complain on behalf of over 300 UK Sikh Gurdwaras and organisations as he failed to put out a message on Friday on the Gurpurb (birth) of Guru Nanak Dev jI , the founder of the Sikh faith.  This is the subject of an exclusive story that is expected to be published tomorrow in the Daily Telegraph.

The letter to Keir Starmer also made reference to the British Sikhs community looking for public reassurances on their safety and security at a critical time when Sikhs in the Diaspora are being targeted by transnational repression by the Indian government.  

The letter pointed out Justin Trudeau telephoned and briefed Keir Starmer on 14 October when Canada was forced to expel six top Indian diplomats for their direct involvement in the targeted killings, threats and extortion of Sikhs in Canada.  

The letter also pointed out that it has also emerged that the Canadian government have directly implicated the Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, who is the Indian Prime Minister’s right hand man and closest confidant.

A new Sikh Labour MP, named in the letter to Keir Starmer wrote to his local Gurdwara on 20 October and said: “I have made representations about the most recent revelations in person to senior officials at No 10.” 

He was referring to the developments in Canada with the expulsion of Indian diplomats and the US Department for Justice releasing an indictment for a named Indian Intelligence officer based in Delhi who is now wanted by the FBI and faces extradition.  

When the G20 meeting took place in Delhi in September 2023 we now know Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and Anthony Albanese raised the Indian government’s transnational repression targeting Sikhs in the Diaspora, India’s lack of respect for the rule of law and a challenge to their sovereignty.

This was before Justin Trudeau’s explosive public statement in the Canadian Parliament on 18 September 2023 and the far-reaching revelations from the US two months later.

Meanwhile Rishi Sunak the British PM at that time was weak and too busy talking to the media about being a proud Hindu and bending over backwards to appease Narendra Modi in the hope of a trade deal.  He was however forced through public pressure to raise the arbitrary detention of Jagtar Singh Johal.

Dabinderjit Singh commented: “All British Sikh eyes are on Keir Starmer at the G20 Summit and what he will say to Narendra Modi.

Unlike Rishi Sunak we are confident he will stand shoulder to shoulder with Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and Anthony Albanese as the Five Eyes nations intelligence gathering and sharing alliance is far too important.

However, the jury is out on the extent to which he will publicly call out the Indian government’s transnational repression targeting Sikh activists in the Diaspora, including the UK.”

He went on to say: “In our letter to Keir Starmer we have told him of “threat to life” warnings by British intelligence services to Sikhs in the West Midlands after the killings and plots against Sikh activists in June 2023.”

We have disclosed to Ker Starmer that these warnings were embarrassingly not on the radar of Craig Guildford, the Chef Constable of the West Midlands Police until we told him about them and he subsequently had them corroborated.

Our letter has sent a timely warning shot across Keir Starmer’s bow that he should stand with the British Sikh community as we are resourceful and will persevere to expose the Indian government’s actions against Sikhs in the UK.”