Jagtar Singh Johal: Brother hopeful after first meeting with UK foreign secretary

Three weeks before he was suddenly bungled into a police car, Jagtar Singh Johal was dancing at his own wedding. Footage from that day captures the vibrant nuptials. Luminous white cars adorned with rich, red roses; those same cars flanked by a band of men, their trumpets tooting in rhythm with the hypnotic thrums of the dhol drum. Jagtar Singh Johal cuts a dizzyingly happy figure in a three-piece royal blue suit. Burgundy tie. Big smile. He and his wife, who’s in a traditional red wedding sari, clasp hands tightly – unaware that soon they’ll be separated by continents.

Jagtar Singh Johal was arrested on 4 November 2017, in the city of Jalandhar in the north Indian state of Punjab. He was taken off the street by plain clothed police officers in front of witnesses, including his own family. Mr Singh Johal’s family has always maintained that he was an online activist highlighting the persecution of Sikh communities in India.

Today, Gurpreet Singh Johal, Jagtar’s brother, met the Foreign Secretary David Lammy for the first time. Mr Johal told Channel 4 News, “A reassurance we’ve been given is that Jagtar will always be on the agenda, whether it’s the prime minister meeting his [Indian] counterpart or the foreign secretary meeting his [Indian] counterpart. Now, the previous government, we had to kind of force that to happen with the campaigning that we did.”

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“At first sight the government is engaging”

The Indian authorities have previously told us that Mr Singh Johal was linked to an illegal organisation and that he committed offences against right-wing political and religious leaders. In that statement they said the government of India’s counter-terrorism agency says Mr Singh Johal has been formally charged in eight separate cases relating to assassination, terror and violence “based on extensive evidence.”

This summer, the optics of diplomacy – firm handshakes in front of flags as tall as their frontmen – preceded a meeting between the foreign secretaries of Britain and India. In a stately room, across a shining mahogany table overlooked by a British painting of two Indian men with a cheetah and a stag, David Lammy and Dr Jaishankar discussed trade and economic growth. Six days later, back in Westminster, a Conservative MP questioned Mr Lammy in the Commons, “The Labour party regularly called for human rights to be part of that UK-India trade deal” she declared, asking for an update on Mr Singh Johal’s case. “Will he today publicly call for Jagtar’s release, just as, from this Dispatch Box, he repeatedly urged the last Foreign Secretary to do? Will he meet Jagtar’s family, as Lord Cameron did?”

Mr Lammy said that he’d raised the matter with Dr Jaishankar, adding that he remains “absolutely committed to pushing for faster progress and to resolving this issue.”

This was Mr Lammy’s position today too. Gurpreet Johal told us that for the first time Reprieve (a human rights organisation assisting the family) was allowed to be in the room, “I think the first positive aspect of the meeting was allowing Reprieve to be in attendance, who have a wide range of experience of finding resolutions and bringing British nationals back to the UK. And then he gave us the time and listened to solutions of how we bring Jagtar back. We didn’t have that previously because there was a block where the previous foreign secretaries had not allowed Reprieve to attend within the meeting itself. So that was the first barrier that was taken down. I would say at first sight the government is engaging. They’re willing to work with the family and Reprieve to bring Jagtar back home.”

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Indian authorities deny depriving legal rights

In 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that, under international law, Mr Singh Johal’s detention is arbitrary, stating that his detention lacks a legal basis, his fair trial rights violated and that he remains in detention “apparently with no evidence.” The group called for his immediate release.

It also highlighted, in a written document, details of torture. Mr Johal, it stated, had been interrogated using electric shocks “forcing his limbs into painful positions and depriving him of sleep.” The Indian authorities have previously said “At no stage has Mr Johal been deprived of his legal rights,” and “with regard to his claims of mistreatment. It is emphasised here that the authorities in India firmly deny all such allegations.”

UK intelligence agencies are accused of tipping off Indian authorities about Mr Singh Johal before his abduction and alleged torture by Punjab police. In 2020, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (the UK’s intelligence watchdog) published its annual report which included details of MI5 “passing information about a British national to a partner country whose authorities then arrested and tortured the British national in question.”

The human rights group Reprieve says it has compelling evidence which suggests the British national in the annual report is Jagtar Singh Johal. Following the revelations, Mr Singh Johal brought a claim against Boris Johnson’s government. The former government formally responded to the claim, refusing to confirm or deny whether it played any role in Mr Singh Johal’s abduction, adding that his torture is “not admitted.” Today, Reprieve’s Director of Advocacy and Policy Dan Dolan said: “The Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister both took strong, principled positions on Jagtar’s case in opposition, recognising that he is arbitrarily detained and saying the Government should seek his release. We’re calling on them to honour those commitments.”

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“I’ve just got to keep going”

Outside Westminster today, the clamour of protestors responding to the Budget and the drone of a police helicopter circling above occasionally interrupted our interview. In the pauses Mr Johal’s smiles and chatter masked the gravity of the family’s situation. He says he speaks to Jagtar on the phone twice a month and is pleased that the British Consulate visits him in prison every six to eight weeks. But, that doesn’t take away the family’s mental strain. The brothers very recently lost their grandfather who raised them. Mr Johal tells me that Jagtar’s wife just spent her seventh wedding anniversary away from her husband. I ask him how he’s doing, “I’ve just got to keep going,” he says,  “I know if I don’t do it, nobody else is going to do it. I’m lucky enough to have the support of Reprieve, Redress and the community. I’ve got that energy just now to just keep going.”