Explainer: Why Bandi Sikh issue is back in focus

With the Supreme Court questioning the delay in Beant Singh assassination convict Balwant Singh Rajoana’s execution, the issue of Bandi Singhs is back in focus. Bandi Singhs or Bandi Sikhs are Sikh prisoners convicted for their involvement in militant activities during the 1980s and 1990s. Most were convicted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA and other IPC offences.

Rajoana was the backup bomber to Dilawar Singh, who blew himself up in the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995, killing then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and 16 others. He was sentenced to death in 2007.

The apex court was hearing Rajoana’s petition for commutation of death penalty to life term on the ground of delay in deciding on his mercy plea. The next hearing has been fixed for October 15.

The emotive issue has political overtones in Punjab. Even Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu, grandson of Beant Singh, has announced support for clemency to Sikh prisoners. When in the Congress, the BJP MP had opposed their release. His change of heart adds momentum to calls from Sikh organisations for release of prisoners who have been in jail for decades. “Let bygones be bygones for the sake of peace in Punjab,” Bittu recently told The Tribune.

How campaign started

The release of Sikh prisoners who have completed their sentences or are eligible for release is seen as a humanitarian issue and a campaign for justice by Sikh organisations and activists. When Rajoana’s execution was set to take place in 2012, there were statewide protests. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee filed a mercy plea. The then SAD-BJP government persuaded the Congress-led UPA at the Centre to put off the execution.

In 2013, activist Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa from Kurukshetra went on a 44-day hunger strike in Mohali to press for the release of Bandi Sikhs. Two years later, elderly activist Surat Singh Khalsa from Ludhiana started an indefinite hunger strike, amplifying the movement’s reach.

Besides the families and activists, the SGPC and Qaumi Insaaf Morcha, which has put up a permanent dharna at the Mohali-Chandigarh border, have been spearheading the campaign.

How many are in jail

Twenty-six life convicts or Bandi Sikhs remain in jail. Of these, 16 have never got parole. As per Jaspal Singh Manjhpur, an activist-lawyer who is pursing the cases, it’s a political issue and governments should release the Sikh prisoners as they have been languishing in jails for decades.

Nine convicts have been in jail for 30 years or more: Rajoana, Jagtar Singh Hawara, Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, Lakhwinder Singh Lakha, Gurmeet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Paramjit Singh Bheora, Jagtar Singh Tara, and Kuldeep Singh Khera.

Stance of governments

When the issue gained momentum in 2014-15, a list of 120 Bandi Singhs was made public. It was pruned to 96 to include only these involved in terrorism cases.

Just before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November 2019, the Centre issued a notification to release eight Sikh prisoners while proposing commutation of Rajoana’s death sentence to life imprisonment. To then Congress MP Bittu’s question on why Rajoana had been granted clemency, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that “no pardon has been given”. In 2023, to a question by MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Shah said the mercy plea could not be considered since it had been submitted by a third party (SGPC), and not the family members.

Legal hurdles

The Supreme Court’s interpretation of life imprisonment as “imprisonment for life” complicates the early release. Additionally, the lack of coordination between states and the Centre has delayed decisions. Governments of various states where the crimes took place have to clear the release. Also, victims’ families are against the release. Though their opposition has no legal standing, it builds up a political and public narrative.

Drawing comparisons with Bandi Sikhs, advocate Manjhpur says many police personnel convicted by the CBI in terrorism-era cases were released within a few years.

Critics argue that political parties often use the issue of Bandi Sikhs for electoral gains and it tends to resurface around elections and major Sikh commemorations.