Documents » Over Seas

Open Letter to UNHRC for Release of Professor Bhullar by World Sikh Council (AR)

July 16, 2011 | By Tejashdeep Singh

July 13, 2011

Honorable Laura Dupuy Lasserre
President
United Nations Human Rights Council
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

Subject: Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar – Imminent execution of a political dissident by India

Dear Honorable Laura Dupuy Lasserre:

We are writing to you on behalf of the World Sikh Council – America Region (WSC-AR), a national organization of Gurdwaras (places of worship) and other Sikh institutions in the United States of America.

WSC-AR is very concerned that there has been a grave injustice carried out on the judgment in reference to Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar for the following reasons:

1. Prof. Bhullar’s father, maternal uncle, and best friend Balwant Singh Multani were tortured and executed by the Indian authorities through extrajudicial killings.

2. The Indian judiciary has found Prof. Bhullar guilty on many trumped up charges, yet not a single eyewitness among the over hundred presented to the court can attest to Prof. Bhullar’s guilt.

3. The recent Indian Supreme Court split decision verdict over Prof. Bhullar is an eye opener. The two Hindu judges, Justice Aggarwal and Justice Passayat pronounced him guilty and the Muslim judge, Justice A.B. Shah, pronounced him innocent.

4. Under Indian law no person can be given the death penalty if the verdict is not unanimous. This would be a first under extraordinary circumstances.

5. The judiciary has convicted Prof. Bhullar, based solely on a confession procured under severe torture, which is in itself inadmissible under international jurisprudence and furthermore has been recanted by the plaintiff.

6. We understand that the German government has admitted its error in judgment by sending a political dissident – asylum seeker to his potential death in India. We also understand the German authorities are willing to give Prof. Bhullar asylum provided India releases him.

7. Under Indian law, a life term is 14 years. Prof. Bhullar has served over 16 years, of which 10 years has been under solitary confinement thereby making him insane and on suicide watch.

8. The Indian authorities owe a public apology to Prof. Bhullar for incarcerating an innocent man for over 16 years and should compensate him for extreme suffering.

9. India refuses to sign the UN Human Rights Declaration against Torture yet claims to be the largest democracy in the world.

10. To date, India refuses to allow Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other such entities to document the sustained gross human rights abuses in Punjab and elsewhere in which hundreds of thousands of innocent Sikh men, women and children were tortured, raped, murdered and made to disappear over a period of two decades, known as the “Sikh Genocide.”

We respectfully request that the UN Human Rights Council put its full weight to bear on India for the immediate release of Prof. Bhullar and stop any further mockery of justice. Kind regards,

Sincerely,

Dr. Manohar Singh
Chairperson
World Sikh Council – America Region

******************

Member Gurdwaras of WSC-AR:
1. Pacific Coast Khalsa Diwan Society, Stockton, CA
2. Gurdwara Sahib Fremont, Fremont, CA
3. Guru Nanak Sikh Mission, Livingston, CA
4. Sikh Gurdwara of LA, North Hollywood, CA
5. Sikh Gurdwara Riverside, Riverside, CA
6. Gurdwara Guru Angad Darbar, Bakersfield, CA
7. Colorado Singh Sabha, Denver, CO
8. Guru Singh Sabha of Augusta, Augusta, GA
9. Sikh Study Circle of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
10. Sikh Religious Society of Chicago, Palatine, IL
11. Sikh Society of South, New Orleans, LA
12. New England Sikh Study Circle, Boston, MA
13. Singh Sabha of Michigan, Canton, MI
14. Sikh Gurdwara of Michigan, Rochester Hills, MI
15. Sikh Society of Michigan, Madison Heights, MI
16. Guru Nanak Foundation of Jackson, MS
17. Sikh Gurdwara of North Carolina, Durham, NC
18. Sikh Sabha of Upper Valley, Hanover, NH
19. Garden State Sikh Association, Bridgewater, NJ
20. Guru Nanak Sikh Society of Delaware Valley, Sewell, NJ
21. Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Glenrock, NJ
22. Sikh Sabha of New Jersey, Lawrenceville, NJ
23. Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh, Las Vegas, NV
24. Sikh Cultural Society Inc., Richmond Hills, NY
25. Sikh Cultural & Edu. Society of Western NY, Buffalo, NY
26. Sikh Foundation of Syracuse, Liverpool, NY
27. Sikh Religious Society of Dayton, Dayton, OH
28. Guru Nanak Found. of Greater Cleveland, Richfield, OH
29. Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Society, Bedford, OH
30. Guru Nanak Religious Soc. of Central Ohio, Columbus, OH
31. Sikh Sadh Sangat, Easton, PA
32. Philadelphia Sikh Society, Millbourne, PA
33. Tristate Sikh Cultural Society, Monroeville, PA
34. Mid South Sikh Sabha, Memphis, TN
35. Sikh Center of Gulf Coast, Houston, TX
36. Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Richardson, TX
37. Sikh Gurdwara of North Texas, Garland, TX
38. Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Fairfax, VA
39. Sikh Association of Central Virginia, VA
40. Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin, Brookfield, WI

Other Sikh Institution Members of WSC-AR:
1. Siri Guru Granth Sahib Found., Anaheim, CA
2. Sikhs Serving America, Topeka, KS
3. Sikh Youth Federation of North America, White Plains, NY
4. Sikh Heritage Foundation, Long Island, NY
5. Sikh Educational & Religious Foundation, Dublin, OH
6. Sikh Youth Federation of USA, Toledo, OH
7. Academy of Guru Granth Studies, Arlington, TX

Tweet

---

To Get Sikh Siyasat News Alerts via WhatsApp:

(1) Save Our WhatsApp Number 0091-855-606-7689 to your phone contacts; and
(2) Send us Your Name via WhatsApp. Click Here to Send WhatsApp Message Now.

Sikh Siyasat is on Telegram Now. Subscribe to our Telegram Channel

---

Related Topics: Human Rights, Prof. Devender Pal Singh Bhullar, United Nations, World Sikh Council (America Region)

Leave a Reply