Hundreds of Sikhs protested outside the Conservative Party Conference in the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham on Sunday. The protest organised by the Federation of Sikh Organisations (FSO) took place just before Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary was due to address the conference.
The protest is against the continued detention of Jagtar Singh Johal from Dumbarton and the refusal of Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary to meet with the family and their MP Martin Docherty-Hughes of the SNP despite promises made by the previous Foreign Secretary in Parliament.
The protest also highlighted anti-terror police raids two weeks ago targeting five Sikh activists supporting the campaign for the release of Jagtar Singh Johal.
Thirty one-year old Jagtar travelled to India to get married having been engaged six months earlier in his first visit to Punjab after 7-8 years.
Last November and a couple of weeks after his wedding he was abducted, hooded and thrown into a van whilst out shopping with his wife and cousin sister and has now been in an Indian jail for 330 days.
Within days of his abduction and torture by Indian police and denial of proper access to British consular staff there was a huge outcry by the British Sikh community and around 250 MPs that had letters from constituents.
The police raids that were carried out two weeks ago on the homes of five Sikh activists linked to the campaign to bring Jagtar Singh Johal back home has created huge tensions between the Sikh community, police and Home Office as further details emerge. Jagtar has already made 55 court appearances, but no witnesses or evidence has yet been presented in court.
