The British government has said that it is looking into claims that a U.K. citizen, Jagtar Singh Johal, has been tortured while in custody in Punjab, pledging that it would take “extreme action” should it emerge that torture had indeed taken place.
Speaking in the House of Commons, following a question from Scottish Member of Parliament Martin Docherty-Hughes, Foreign Office Minister Rory Stewart said that both Britain and India took allegations of torture very seriously.
“It is completely unconstitutional, it is offensive to the British government and we will work very closely to investigate and we will of course take extreme action if a British citizen is being tortured,” he told the House of Commons on Tuesday. On Monday, Prime Minister Theresa May told the BBC’s Asian Network that the government was pursuing the case “with concern” and would take action if necessary.
Pressure has been building on the British government in this case, including from parliamentarians across the political spectrum, with the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Sikhs writing to the Foreign Office calling for an urgent investigation into the case and what it described as a “catalogue of failures” by Indian local and State authorities.
Mr. Stewart confirmed on Tuesday that the Deputy High Commission has since gained access to Mr. Johal, who appeared in court last week.
Mr. Johal was arrested in Jalandhar earlier this month, shortly after his wedding took place in the city. He is accused, according to tweets by Captain Amarinder Singh, the State’s Chief Minister, of involvement in “targeted killings” in Ludhiana, Khanna and Jalandhar, “Breakthrough in targeted killings with arrest of 4, conspiracy was hatched by #ISI on foreign soil to spread communal disturbances”, he tweeted on November 7, adding that the four who had been arrested were using “encrypted mobile software/apps for communication with handlers based in Pak., Western countries; were trained abroad”.
However, the treatment given to Mr. Johal has faced condemnation from U.K.-based groups such as the Sikh Federation U.K., with a #FreeJaggiNow campaign building online, and supported by a number of MPs. Sikh community groups lobbied MPs in Parliament on Tuesday to raise awareness of the issue, while Mr. Docherty-Hughes has written to Ms. May seeking a meeting for her with the family of Mr. Johal.
