Indian-origin truck driver Harjinder Singh denied bond, online petition filed for “fair sentencing”
CHANDIGARH: The 28-year-old Indian-origin truck driver, Harjinder Singh, who was allegedly accused of making an illegal U-turn in Florida, killing three Americans, was denied bond on Saturday. This means that he will remain in custody as the legal process continues.Singh, who hails from Rataul village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab, migrated to the US in 2018 via Mexico through the ‘donkey route’ and currently holds political asylum status. He was arrested six days after the accident near his California home by Florida police and is now lodged in the St Lucie County Jail in Florida.Bathinda MP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal has written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to take up the issue of freeze on work visas of foreign truck drivers with the US government. “Punjabi and Sikh drivers make up 20 per cent of the US trucking industry with around 1.5 lakh Sikh drivers engaging in trucking in the US. Any mass-level action against them would have a detrimental effect on trucking families and would be discriminatory in nature considering the fact that Punjabis have built and sustained trucking logistics and trucking networks over decades,” She added that there was an apprehension that several Punjabis who were in the trucking industry might be forced to leave the US. She also urged the minister to ensure counsellor access to Harjinder Singh so that his case could be pleaded appropriately.As per the North American Punjabi Trucking Association (NAPTA), out of the 150,000-strong trucking community of California, around 55 per cent of the drivers are hailing from Punjab. They fill in the shortage of local American drivers across California, Florida, Texas, Indiana, and New Jersey.
An online petition titled “Plea for Fair Sentencing: Commutation Request for a 28-Year-Old Punjabi Man Involved in a Fatal Truck Accident” on Change.org under the group name Collective Punjabi Youth to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis demanding Singh’s release is signed by more than 2 million people. It has sparked a controversy as it has gained significant traction.
Punjab Industries and Power Minister Sanjeev Arora wrote a letter addressed to S Jaishankar, urging him to take up the matter with the US government through the Indian Embassy in Washington, stating that the decision could impact around 1.5 lakh Punjabi drivers who travel there on work visas. He said that it was unjust to penalise the entire Punjabi community over a single incident.
He faces vehicular homicide charges with a potential 50-year sentence. His next court hearing is on August 27.
Back in his native village, Tejinder Singh, brother of Harjinder, said that his brother made a serious mistake but it was not a deliberate act or intentional crime.
The decision by the US Government to work visas for foreign commercial truck drivers following the fatal accident involving Singh might backfire as there are 1.50 lakh Punjabi truck drivers across the US, and licenses of 2,500 of them have already been suspended since April this year.