Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received on the hunger strike of Bhai Gurbaksh Singh in India; and if he will make a statement.

We are aware of Gurbaksh Singh’s hunger strike in protest of the continued detention of Sikh prisoners, and closely monitor both this and the general human rights situation in India.

In June 2014, British High Commissioner to India Sir James Bevan met India's new Minister of Minority Affairs, Dr Najma Heptulla, to discuss a range of minority issues. Officials from the British High Commission in New Delhi also hold regular discussions on these issues, including those of the Sikh community, with the Indian National Commission for Minorities and with other relevant State level authorities. We will continue to maintain a dialogue with Indian officials about minority rights in India.