Panel formed on Sikh prisoners' release issue

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 4

A 13-member committee ‘Political Prisoner Release Committee’ was constituted during the meeting of various Sikh organisations on the issue of the release of Sikh prisoners from various jails. The 13-member committee has been authorised to take up the issue of political prisoners and other Sikh prisoners with government representatives.

The organidations hit out at the Centre for showing reluctance in release of nine Sikh convicts, who are still languishing in jails, despite completion of their sentence period. The organisations announced to hold protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during their visit to Punjab. It was decided that once their schedule plan will be made public, the Sikh groups will declare their protest chart.

Sikh organisations led by Dal Khalsa, Alliance of Sikh Organisations and farmer organisations led by BKU (Doaba) constituted the coordination committee for the release of political prisoners. The 13-member committee included Baba Hardeep Singh Mehraj, Baba Hardeep Singh Dibdiba, HS Majhi, Kisan leaders Amarjit Singh Sandhu, Gurpal Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Narien Singh and Jaskaran Singh with Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjpur as its legal adviser.

Panthic and farmers organisations squarely placed the blame on the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the Delhi CM for the obstructions in the release of Sikh prionsers.

They said on one hand the Union Home Ministry issued the notification in 2019 recommending the release of Sikh prisoner Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and eight other detainees, but on the other hand, the Delhi Police which comes under the Union Home Ministry, opposed the premature release of Bhullar twice in the meeting of the Sentence Review Board (held on February 28, 2020 and December 11, 2020). Another member of the Sentence Review Board (SRB) who opposed the premature release was the Director, Social Welfare.

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