Efforts for release of Sikh prisoners, lodged in different jails of the country, gain momentum in Punjab
Zee News
The SGPC has called a special gathering at its headquarters at Teja Singh Samundari Hall on May 11 in which several other Sikh bodies are likely to participate to make efforts for the release of Sikh prisoners lodged in different jails for the past nearly three decades.
Chandigarh: The issue of release of ‘Bandhi Singhs’ (Sikh prisoners) has suddenly gained momentum in Punjab with not only Sikh’s single largest representative body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) convening a special meeting of Sikh political and religious organizations to strategize joint efforts for the release of prisoners lodged in jails even after completion of their sentences in different jails of the country but other Sikh bodies have also joined hands to take the issue to the national capital to draw the central government's attention.
On the directions of Sikhs' supreme temporal seat Akal Takht’s officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, the SGPC has called a special gathering at its headquarters at Teja Singh Samundari Hall on May 11 in which several other Sikh bodies are likely to participate to make efforts for the release of Sikh prisoners lodged in different Indian jails for the past nearly three decades.
The Sikh bodies, especially the SGPC, are resentful of the government giving furlough and parole to Kishori Lal, a convict in the 1984 Sikh genocide, and not showing any leniency to Sikh prisoners. "Sikh prisoners are not being released who have already served more than life imprisonment and they are being discriminated against,” alleged SGPC president Harjinder Singh while talking to Zee News.
Not just the SAD (B) expects to get political dividends by taking credit for the release of Sikh prisoners but other Sikh bodies also hope for the same. But one wonders why the BJP-led government at the Centre will allow other political parties to take the benefit and why will the saffron party not itself take the credit to earn the trust of Sikhs, especially those living in Punjab.
The issue has already been raised by the Hawara Committee, which was constituted by Jagtar Singh Hawara, an assassin of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. Hawara is presently lodged in the jail and in the past was elected as parallel Jathedar of Akal Takht by the radical Sikh bodies.
