20 Punjabi youths held in US shifted to Miami prison

Tuesday, 30/09/2014

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140930/punjab.htm#2

Chandigarh : There seems to be no end to the problems of the 29 Punjabi youths detained in Utah jail in the US for the past seven months. At least 20 of these youths have now been shifted to Miami jail as an alleged result of their complaints against the jail officials. They had tried to sneak into the US through the Arizona border, but were captured by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement wing. They were later shifted from Arizona to Utah.

Eighteen of them were on hunger protest for about a fortnight against the “ill-treatment” meted out to them by the jail officials. They were also protesting “insufficient food, and that too of inferior quality, being supplied to them”.

A group of six youths, led by Ranjit Singh, had written a letter to North American Punjabi Association executive director Satnam Singh Chahal. These youths provided details of their plight and how the vegetarian Punjabi detainees were being provided non-vegetarian food.

Among those who have been shifted to Miami are Navdip Singh (from Delhi), Jagminder Singh (Begowal, Kapurthala), Harpreet Lal (Mehatpur, Nakodar), Nishan Singh (Begowal), Arshdeep Singh (Moga), Kamaljit Singh (Kapurthala), Sandip Singh (Begowal), another Sandeep Singh (also from Begowal), Gurbinder Singh (Begowal), Jaspreet Singh Kang (Ferozepur), Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal and Bikram Kumar (Jalandhar), Malkiat Singh from Hariana, Yashpal Singh (Jalandhar) and Sarthak Kumar Patel (Gujarat).

Those still lodged at the Utah jail and who were observing fast against the jail officials are Harjinder Singh (Begowal), Anmol Pal (Jalandhar), Kuldip Singh (Jalandhar), Rahul Guru (Nawanshahr), Sukhwinder Singh (Jalalpur), Pardip Kumar (Haryana), Inderjit Singh Parmar (Ajnoha), Balwinder Singh (Mansoorpur, Mukerian) and Sukhjinder Singh (Ludhiana).

Two of the youths have not joined the fast. “Though I have lost contact with others, I am in touch with these two,” said Chahal.

“When we protested against the treatment meted out to the Punjabi youths, the jail authorities did nothing except shifting most of them to Miami,” he said.

Curbing protest?

About 20 of the 29 youths have been shifted from Utah to Miami jail reportedly following their complaints against jail officials. Eighteen of them were on hunger strike for about a fortnight against the "ill-treatment" meted out to them by the jail officials.