In a rare occasion when both the ruling Akali Dal and Congress agreed on an issue, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and PPCC President Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday favoured release of those Sikh detainees who have served their sentence.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of a function here, Badal said the government was crystal clear on the issue of parole sought by the Sikh detainees lodged in different jails across the country, who have already completed their jail sentence. Practically supporting the demand of Badal, Punjab Congress President Partap Singh Bajwa also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking the release of the detainees.
Badal applauded the magnanimity shown by the family members of former Punjab Chief Minister late Beant Singh for giving parole to the convicts who were facing life imprisoned for his assassination. Badal said that he had already taken up the matter with his counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat to grant parole to such detainees and hopefully the concerned state governments would accede to his request as assured by them. He said that the UP Chief Minister has already forwarded the case of parole of a detainee lodged there to the Governor for necessary action as he was the final authority to take call on this issue.
Taking the cause of the Sikh prisoners in jail, Bajwa in his letter to the Prime Minister said our criminal jurisprudence firmly validates that a prisoner after having undergone his sentence period must be released from jail and accorded an opportunity to assimilate in society at large. He said in order to prevent the fueling of a sense of discontent and highhandedness, it is imperative that the state apparatus recognizes the fundamental rights of all sections of society and gives them due consideration in accordance with the due process of law.
“Therefore in the larger interest of justice, I would humbly urge you to intervene in the release of all these prisoners from all the jails across the country who have duly completed their sentence period by formulating a policy and appraisal be conducted on a case-to-case basis.,” Bajwa wrote in the letter. He said the initiative would go a long way in assuaging the feelings of hurt and would help in bringing about lasting peace in Punjab and convey a message of goodwill to all the families suffering across the country.
Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa has been fasting since November 14 seeking the release of six Sikhs, “detained” in prisons including three lodged in Chandigarh’s Burail Jail for their involvement in Beant Singh’s assassination.