SAN FRANCISCO: Harbinder Singh, an activist of AISSF, was granted political asylum: by Immigration judge, J.P. Vandelo here ‘on December 2, 1988. Mr. Harbinder Singh was represented by Mohinder Singh, attorney of Bay Area. Harbinder belongs to Urmar Tanda in Hoshiarpur district and he was arrested on September 21, 1988 when he arrived at the San Francisco Airport from Bangkok.

Harbinder was present in the Golden Temple when army attacked in June 1984 but left along with the first batch of pilgrims. He subsequently joined the AISSF and was arrested a few days later and stayed in jail for 20 days. He was handed over to his parents suffering from acute food poisoning. He was admitted to the Rajindra Hospital, Patiala where he had to be operated.

After six months of his release from the hospital he was shot in the arm by a police officer when passing before the police station in Urmar Tanda on a bicycle. A year later he was waylaid by the Hindus of his town and beaten up. While the policemen watched disinterestedly. They did not intervene even when the Hindu gangsters cut his hair and inflicted a serious injury on the head.

He, then, decided to move out of India and travelled to Nepal with a fake pass-port in the name of Mohan Lal. From there he came to San Francisco via Bangkok.

When questioned about his fake passport and visa, he admitted that he had done all that to escape the Indian police. After his arrest at airport, he was sent to Oakland jail. A few days later Mohinder Singh Attorney was contacted by the Catholic Charity Association and Bar Association and was requested to accept Harbinder’s case. Mohinder Singh met him in Oakland jail and obtained the information regarding the appeal for political asylum to represent him in the court.

On October 28, 1988 petition for political asylum was filed in Immigration Court. As a normal practice, Immigration court sends the petition to the State Department for advisory opinion. The State department gave a negative opinion which in brief meant that the state department had nothing to say one way or the other in respect of Harbinder Singh but added that the department has evidence that “government of India does not persecute Sikhs.” After hearing Harbinder Singh’s testimony, Judge Vendello asked Mohinder Singh Attorney if he had any comments over the state Department’s opinion. Mohinder Singh stated to the court that in the earlier asylum case handled by him, the State department had expressed its opinion in a 7 page letter. Now only a year after, the department has started giving opinion in just two short paragraphs. He also submitted that the judge must be aware of the concern expressed in the congressional records and reports of Amnesty International regarding persecution of the Sikhs in India. He dismissed the Advisory Opinion as one-sided and baseless.

After hearing arguments on both sides, Judge Vandello indicated that he had no doubt about the truths of Harbinder’s testimony and granted the petition. The Prosecution declared that it would not appeal the decision.

This is the second case of political asylum successfully represented by Mohinder Singh, Attorney. Mohinder Singh is highly respected for his charitable disposition and’ he was honored with a Public Service Award for the year 1987 by the San Francisco Bar Association. He has again been nominated for the 1988 Award.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 9, 1988