The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday assured Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar that Haryana youth Vishal Jood, who has been arrested by the Australian police in an alleged hate crime case, would be released from prison in Australia very soon.
According to the reports, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday seeking his intervention to secure the release of Vishal Jood from the prison in Australia and appealed for immediate intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs in the matter.
External Affairs Minister assured CM that Vishal Jude would be released from prison in Australia very soon. For the honor of tricolor in Sydney, Australia, Haryana’s young Vishal Jude fought firmly with anti-national forces & didn’t allow the tricolor to be insulted: DPR,Haryana
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2021
Indian student Vishal Jood was arrested by Australian police on April 16 for involvement in an attack in Sydney. As per the Indian diaspora in Australia, Vishal Jood was arrested for taking on the Khalistani extremists and anti-India propagandists living in Australia in April this year. It has been two months since his arrest, and Australian authorities have neither released him on bail nor allowed Indian authorities to speak to him.
Following his arrest, hundreds of supporters have gathered in Sydney, Australia, in the last few days in support of Vishal Jood. There have been protests for his release in Karnal and Haryana districts.
The Haryana Chief Minister apprised Minister Jaishankar about the demonstrations in India, as well Australia in support of Vishal Jood. The Chief Minister also reportedly explained how Vishal had stood against anti-national forces, who later beat him up and implicated him in a false case.
There are also a lot of demonstrations in Australia in support of Vishal. Vishal’s supporters claim that some anti-national forces beat up Vishal Jude and later implicated him in a false case with the Australian government and sent him to jail: DPR, Haryana
— ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2021
“For the honor of tricolor in Sydney, Australia, Haryana’s young Vishal Jood fought firmly with anti-national forces and did not allow the tricolor to be insulted,” Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar tweeted in support of the nationalist Indian Vishal Jood, who is currently in Australian police custody over charges of attacking Khalistani extremists in Sydney.
A statement released from the CM’s office said 24-years old Jood was innocent and was jailed following a “conspiracy from anti-national forces” since he opposed anti-India elements for the Tricolour’s sake.
Who is Vishal Jood?
Vishal Jood, the 24-year-old from Haryana, a student in Australia, was arrested on 16 April in Sydney for his alleged involvement in three criminal incidents. The Australian police officials picked Vishal Jood after a group of Indian nationalists had clashed with Khalistanis in Australia. Vishal Jood has been languishing in a jail in the down in the country for two months now. The police have arrested the Haryana-based Jood on charges of damage to property, affray, and assault.
Reportedly, Vishal has been accused of three crimes that allegedly occurred on 16 September 2020 and 14 and 28 February 2021. Interestingly, Khalistani activists have been named as ‘victims’ in all three cases. These Khalistani elements are believed to Indian-origin, however, they do not identify themselves as Indians but prefer being identified with their religious identity and support the idea of Khalistan.
Ever since the Sydney police arrested Vishal on dubious charges, supplemented by the purported videos presented by the Khalistanis, the Indian diaspora has been demanding the release of Vishal Jood. They have approached the Sydney police authorities, however, their efforts have gone in vain.
Meanwhile, Vishal’s lawyer took it up with prison authorities, threatening legal action, which led to the police adding further criminal charges against Vishal and transferring the case to a higher court to cause further trouble to Vishal and the Indians community.
Vishal Jood’s friends and family have alleged that Australian police have targeted Jood for frequently standing up for India and challenging Khalistani elements operating from Australian soil. Vishal Jood’s friends and family have said the police have acted under pressure from Khalistani groups to frame him.
Later, it emerged that Vishal Jood is a diabetic and did not have access to his medicine in jail. For days, his friends and family were denied access despite his medical condition. In fact, his friends, who spoke to OpIndia, has said that Vishal’s only fault was that he tried to take out a tricolour rally in support of India, which seems to have upset a few Khalistani groups back in Australia.
The father of Vishal Jood has been trying to access consular access to Vishal. However, the Indian High Commission in Australia had not obliged the requests of the Indian diaspora yet. Speaking to OpIndia, one of the members of the Indian diaspora had expressed his disappointment over the reluctance of the Indian High Commission to stand for the interests of the Indians. He claimed that the authorities are showing any interest in releasing Vishal Jood or seeking consular access.
