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Sacramento Sikh Community Prays for Safety of U.S. Citizen Jailed in India

March 14, 2015 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

Sacramento, CA, USA (Mar. 13, 2015): “We came here today to pray for the safety of Ravinder Singh Gogi, a US citizen and father of five,” said Bhajan Singh on Thursday at a prayer meeting at the Sacramento Sikh Temple.

Bhajan Singh was speaking to CBS local news after offering prayers for Ravinder (nicknamed Gogi), who was arrested on February 26 and jailed in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Since last week, Gogi’s family in California and South Asian American communities. Ravinder Singh traveled to India to visit his 83-year-old father, Surat Singh, who is on hunger strike. He was sitting beside Surat in the hospital when he was arrested. Jailed the last two weeks, he is charged with violation of a public peace ordinance (IPC Section 107/151).

Community leaders from Stockton Sikh Temple and the American Punjabi Chamber of Commerce joined Sacramento Sikh Temple president Balbir Singh Dhillon to plead for Ravinder’s release. Introducing Balbir, Bhajan Singh said that Balbir “ironically some years earlier was forcibly arrested and accused of major crimes in India.” When traveling to Punjab in 1996, Balbir was arrested and threatened with false charges.

“I went to visit all the holy places in India and Pakistan,” said Balbir. “Police were looking for me. I was sent to jail for three months, in prison, in Punjab. There was no bail.” Balbir was released only after over 50 US congressional representatives signed a letter to the US State Department that pressured India to admit it had no proof he committed any crime.

 

Ravinder’s 16-year-old son Sahib spoke up at a press conference in Lathrop last week, saying: “I just want the embassy to know that taking away my father from our family is not only hurting us, because I have to go to his business every day after school, spending three or four hours of my own time at the business – it’s taking my life away from education. And family-wise not having him at the dinner table is kind of lonely. It’s not the same not having the presence of a strong figure there in my life every day.”

Speaking with reporters after Thursday’s prayer meeting, Bhajan Singh said: “Sikhs have been here since 1880s. They have established themselves as farmers and working in every aspect of the American fabric. And the hub of the community is Yuba City, and Sacramento, and Stockton. So naturally this has brought a great concern among the community as one of its own is being arrested and possibly tortured in India as we speak.”

The Sikh community has asked local congressional representatives to contact the U.S. State Department on Ravinder Singh’s behalf, but Bhajan notes “the State Department itself has not given us any proper answer yet.”

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Related Topics: Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa, Sikh Political Prisoners, Sikhs in United States

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