A day after Punjab Congress MLA and grandson of the assassinated Chief Minister Beant Singh Gurkirat Kotli declared to move the Apex Court against commutation of death sentence to his grandfather’s assassin and Khalistani terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana to life, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday declared to provide all needed legal aid to the prisoner’s family.
SAD, which had led the campaign seeking clemency for Balwant Singh in 2012 when he escaped the death by a whisker, said that the commutation of Rajoana’s death sentence was a part of a process aimed at bringing a closure to the festering wounds of the Sikh community.
The party, in fact, termed the efforts to stall the “humanitarian gesture” as unfortunate, misconceived, and against the spirit of peace and reconciliation in a direct attack on the Congress.
“It is unfortunate that instead of showing tolerance and compassion towards Bhai Rajoana as well as the sentiments of Akal Takth and the Sikh sangat, an attempt is being made by certain Congress leaders to recreate tension and fissures in civil society by opposing the move in the court of law,” said the former minister Maheshinder Singh Grewal.
He said that the SAD is against such naked attempts aimed at striking at the core of peace and communal harmony and “the party will provide all needed legal aid to the family of Bhai Rajoana to fight these insidious designs to reverse the humane relief given to him”.
The Akali leader said the SAD and SGPC had always opposed the death penalty on a matter of principle and continued to do so. “We have waged a long struggle to create consensus on this issue and this included approaching the Union Government and well as the President on several occasions,” he said.
Urging all political parties and leaders to see the larger picture and break from the bitterness of the past and make a fresh start, Grewal said: “We owe this to the victims of State sponsored terror during the government of former Chief Minister Beant Singh. Who can forget the excesses committed against innocents during this time at the hand of State agencies that resorted to indiscriminate killings of Sikh youth besides indulging in rape and pillage. For these victims, the release of the eight Sikh prisoners as well as the relief given to Bhai Rajaona serves the purpose of applying a balm on their aggrieved psyche.”
At the same time, the SAD leader demanded from the Union Government to release all other pending Sikh prisoners who were still languishing in jail after serving their full sentences.
“Punjab Government should do likewise for prisoners languishing in State jails,” he said.