What is your routine like ?

Early mornings we go for exercise, after which we do our Nitnem following which it is the time for Junch.

We relax a bit during the afternoon after which we do our evening Path (recital of the holy hymns) and read our mail, see some TV or do some reading.

Our day ends with an hour or so of Path at night.

We are both together all the time and nine of us have been segregated. Out of these nine, four are extradition cases including Joe Docherty of the IRA and Mahmud of the PLO.

What do you think will happen to youif you were ever forced to return to India ?

We will not get a fair trial but will be killed extrajudicially. This has already been done to our coaccused Mathura Singh and “Sharma.” Even Jinda was shot in the legs after he was captured by the police.

Our apprehensions are based on the facts of what has been done to our coaccused. They are reasonable and rational apprehensions.

‘What do you feel about the present struggle in Punjab? Ours is a genuine struggle against oppression and tyranny but due to lack of proper guidance anda lack of unity, at times we get side tracked from our struggle against oppression, injustice and tyranny, (See their article in WSN April 7). What has been the role of the Sikh community in America? Both of us take this opportunity to acknowledge our deep gratitude to all the Sikhs for standing by us and extending their support to us. Because of them our case has been kept alive as a source of: education to the courts and the people of the United States. Only because of their untiring efforts to help us have we been able to present a well-documented defense.

The case must be viewed as a political one and we hope that through the efforts of the community we can make known the plight and suffering of our Sikh nation as a whole, and our plight in particular.

What has sustained you during this long incarnation?

The day we started our journey in this struggle our fate was either to be death or imprisonment. It is a part of the struggle and we are taking it as such. We are facing it as a true Sikh should with equanimity belief in truth and unshakable belief in God.

How have your families reacted? Are you in touch with them ?

 Our families are supporting us morally, and their good wishes give us strength. The way they brought us up and inculcated the ‘Sikh values in us, will always help us to face adversity.

Article extracted from this publication >>  May 19, 1989