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Sikh spends
distressing times in Korean Jail
India
provides no consular help
WSN Bureau
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Photo Courtesy: The Korea Herald |
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Good looking, devout and down to earth Jasprit Singh Chawla has been
in a Korean prison for the last thirteen months. Nominated by
Lloyds last year for the “Shipmaster of the Year” award for his
heroic efforts during the oil spill, the captain of Hebei Spirit
which inadvertently caused a huge oil spill off Taen county,
South
Chungcheong Province, has been imprisoned despite one of the lower
courts exonerating him of any blame for the damage.
His wife, Gurpreet Kaur has been running from pillar to post,
single-handedly looking after her children and meeting her husband
at the cold cells of the Cheongju
Detention Center.
The chief officer of the ill-fated ship –Shyam Chetan, is also in
the same prison, though they are not allowed to talk with each other
in the high security jail where they are let out for one of the 24
hours in the whole day.
In December
2007, a crane barge broke free from one of the barges towing it and
ran into the side of the Hebei Spirit, which was at anchor, which
caused tons of crude oil to flow into the sea. The incident is seen
as an environmental disaster, which has affected tourism and
fishing.
In the first
instance a court had cleared Jasprit Singh and his officer but later
an appeals court sentenced them to a year and half on charges of
negligence.
Surving on plain
rice, vegetarian Jasprit Singh’s health is deteriorating but he
maintains a character of steel with the support and richness of his
abiding faith in God, his Sikh way of life and his reading habit.
But he points
out that conditions in the are much better than in Daejeon, where
they were originally held. There was no heating in Daejeon and the
cell was barely larger than a single bed.
Like Gurpreet
Kaur, the wife of Syam Chetan and his father, Commodore DR Syam are
also engaged in bestirring the Indian bureaucracy and others to take
steps to quicken the release of the beleaguered seamen.
Though the
Indian embassy claims that they are trying to do their best, surely
they are not doing enough as Jasprit continues to survive on rice
and water.
Maritime organizations, including The International Transport
Workers Federation are shocked at the developments.
Dehradun-based
Uttarakhand Sikh Federation has sought immediate intervention of the
Prime Minister’s office and would be petitioning the Korean embassy
in New Delhi to take up the case in right earnest and ensure
justice, though Manjit Singh Chawla, the father of Jasprit Singh has
rued that so far nothing has been forthcoming from the PMO.
It is learnt
that international Sikh advocacy and human rights groups are
contemplating meeting Korean authorities over the matter in the
coming days.
13 January 2009
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