:dateline:After over three years of imprisonment in Nabha Jail as a result of a false police case, on Monday Bhai Kulvir Singh Heera was released and finally returned home to be reunited with his wife and children.
In a press release, the Sikh Organisation for Prisoner Welfare thanked their “supporters for returning happiness and laughter to this home and bringing a new dawn of hope for this family�s future.”
Bhai Kulvir Singh Heera will today be released after three years imprisonment in Nabha Jail. The case heard today by Ludhiana Court stemmed from a false case that was registered against him in 2010 by Panjab police (Khanna), the judge sided with the police and found Bhai Kulvir Singh guilty of arms possession for which the punishment given was two years, as he had already served over three years, he will today be released and will finally return home to be united with his family.
SOPW applied for bail three times for what was in legal respects a very weak case against Bhai Kulvir Singh but on each occasions it was flatly declined by the presiding judge.
Despite being a charismatic and naturally high spirited Gursikh, Bhai Kulvir Singh had worked long hours as a labourer supporting his wife and two children and lived in a single room dwelling in Ludhiana, by day it was their living area and by night their sleeping area.
Panjab police (Khanna) picked up Bhai Kulvir Singh on 20th July 2010 and held him in illegal custody for three days where he was brutally tortured. When taken to court by the police on 23rd July 2010 the story the police are said to have concocted bred from a wholly innocent earlier pilgrimage that Bhai Kulveer Singh had taken to visit Sri Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan, the birthplace of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Panjab police twisted this pilgrimage into a mission, stating that Bhai Kulvir Singh had travelled to Pakistan to meet with Jathedar Wadhawa Singh Babbar the head of Babbar Khalsa where he was assigned the task of assassinating the self styled �Babas� Ashutosh, Bhaniarawala, and Ram Rahim. The story further went that he was given a 315 bore hand pistol by Bhai Harminder Singh who was in Pakistan at the time (also currently in Nabha Jail) to carry out these tasks.
SOPW said in their statement that “although we are extremely pleased that Bhai Kulvir Singh has been released, we are nonetheless disappointed that he was found guilty in this totally fabricated case and for which he has spent over three years in prison and left a family behind without their sole earner.”
The SOPW lawyer in this case Adv Jaspal Singh Manjhpur wrote in an article recently, �It would be a miracle if Sikhs could get justice from the Indian judicial system. Sikhi has taken injustice after injustice yet Sikhs are not even recognised as Sikhs. Or we could say that the weight of injustice on the Sikhs is so heavy that if we do not fight against this now then Sikhs will not even be able to look Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji in the eyes.�
SOPW thanked their supporters for supporting Bhai Kulvir Singh while he was in prison with legal expenses and family support including his children�s schooling fee�s.
“Without this support Bhai Kulvir Singh would still be languishing hopelessly in jail and his family by now would have spiralled into deep set poverty.”
SOPW volunteers will be visiting Bhai Kulvir Singh in the coming days and will discuss his hopes for the future, saying, “[We will] assure him and his family that they are not alone, they have thousands of well-wishers all over the world� the Sangat.”
