Exclusive To WSN NEW YORK, NY: Another Sikh was granted political asylum in New York as the Immigration Judge found he had reasonable fear of persecution if he was to go back there.
Judge Howard Cohen granted political asylum to Daljit Singh son of Dargah Singh of Bundher Kalan in Hoshiarpur District of Punjab under section 208 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
Daljit Singh was a spokesman for the All India Sikh Students Federation in the Hoshiarpur District of Punjab.
He was arrested by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on August 14, 1988, at the John F. Kennedy Airport for traveling on a forged passport.
Daljit Singh who is married and has two children, a five year old son and a two year old daughter, was arrested five times by the Punjab police in September 1984, March 86, 87, and twice in 1988.
He was tortured mercilessly in the interrogation centres. Once he was severely beaten up in front of his family members. His crime: he belonged to the AISSF.
Daljit Singh was originally defended by a human rights attorney who withdrew after someone reportedly called her to say that he ‘was a “terrorist.”
His case was then taken up by the law firm of Roland & Gell which compiled additional evidence and represented him at the hearings.
The judge during the hearing, said lawyer Amy Naussbaum Gell had done an “excellent job” in putting up the case.
Gell told the WSN that she was very symphonic to the persecution suffered by the Sikhs and was glad to have served them.
Daljit Singh was released on May 3rd. He said he was at last free and he would continue to serve the community in any way possible, He also said he wanted to thank the World Sikh Organization, its Vice President for East Coast Harbhajan Singh Gill, the International Sikh Youth Federation, Balbir Singh Brar of the Sikh Human Rights Group, and the entire community for their help in his being “free in this free country.”
Three other Sikhs have been granted political asylum in New York. They are Sukhdey Singh, Man Mohan Singh and Upinder Singh. All were members of the AISSF and had been severely tortured by the Indian police. They showed their missing teeth, scars etc. in the court.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 12, 1989
