US-based Sikh rights group to rally behind Sangeeta Richard
JALANDHAR: US-based
Sikhs rights group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) has said it would hold a "
justice rally" on January 13 in New York - when the district court of New York would hold the pre-trial hearing in Devyani Khobragade case - in support of her maid Sangeea Richard whose rights, it said, were violated by the Indian Foreign Services (IFS) official.
"We shall express our support to Sangeeta, who was wronged by her employer," SFJ legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun told TOI over phone from US on Sunday.
"In place of letting the law of land take its course and helping a domestic employee to get justice the Government of India is trying to provide immunity to Khbargade and expanding its culture of impunity in other countries also. This is only in consonance with the long-practiced policy and tradition of the
Indian government to provide immunity to the high and well-placed violators of law," he said, while citing the cases of senior
Congress leaders accused of 1984 anti-Sikh riots thriving in the party and even in the government setup.
"We are inviting all civil rights groups to join this rally and also want to give the message that our community stands up for the rights of underdogs of the society," said the SFJ advisor.
The group has already filed a human rights violation case against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a US Federal court for allegedly protecting perpetrators of 1984 mass killings where she is defending the case through her counsel. "Khobragade should be tried in the US court as we are in a country where law of land is supreme and immunity to anyone based on their official position is unacceptable," stated Pannun, who practices international law in New York. In an interesting coincidence SFJ activists are of Punjabi origin as is the case of public prosecutor Preet Bharara in Devyani's case.
Link -
US-based Sikh rights group to rally behind Sangeeta Richard - The Times of India
