Their protest is in response to alleged restrictions on their chosen lawyer’s access to them within the jail premises.
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Outside the confines of the prison, Kirandeep Kaur, Amritpal Singh’s wife, has also begun a hunger strike to demonstrate solidarity with her husband and the other detainees held under the National Security Act (NSA).
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Kirandeep disclosed that her husband and the nine detainees started the hunger strike after their advocate, Rajdev Singh, was reportedly denied access to them in the jail.
Previously, on September 28, the detainees had penned a letter to the Dibrugarh jail superintendent expressing their dissatisfaction with the Amritsar deputy commissioner (DC) for allegedly obstructing Rajdev’s visit to the jail.
However, DC Amit Talwar clarified that detainees are allowed to meet an advocate of their choice as per the detenue order. He mentioned that Amritpal had already met advocate Navkiran Singh instead of Rajdev Khalsa, and now, he was requesting to meet Rajdev again while Navkiran had already been permitted to visit. The matter had been referred to the secretary of Home for guidance and clarification.
In response, Kirandeep emphasized that Amritpal had the right to make decisions regarding his advocate, and since there had been no resolution to the issue for five days, both Amritpal and herself, along with the other detainees, had commenced an indefinite hunger strike.