Citing Supreme Court order in Rajiv Gandhi case, SGPC, SAD demand release of Sikh prisoners

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) — the body responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, a radical Sikh outfit — Dal Khalsa and Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) have raised the issue of the release of Sikh prisoners after the Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of six convicts who are serving life sentence for more than three decades in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Friday said a discriminatory policy was being adopted by governments for the Sikhs. “The Sikh community has been raising its voice for the release of Sikh political prisoners locked in different jails in the country for the last three decades, but the governments have turned a deaf ear,” he said in a statement.

Mr. Dhami said that if the Tamil Nadu government could recommend the release of the accused involved in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, then why not the same could be done by the governments of other States, including the Centre and Punjab for the release of Sikh political prisoners.

Dal Khalsa leader and spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said, “We hope this order of the apex court will be helpful in getting the release of Sikh political prisoners, who have served their life sentence period.”

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal urged the Union government to release all Sikh detainees who have been languishing in jails even after completion of their prison sentences.

“It was extremely disturbing that the release of the Sikh detainees, including Balwant Singh Rajoana, had been stalled with the Home Ministry giving an adverse report to the Supreme Court which had asked the government to take a final decision on the clemency plea of Rajoana. Sikh sentiments are already hurt and any further delay in the release of the detainees will send a wrong message to the minority community,” he said in a statement.