Giving a major push to the campaign run by various Sikh organisations seeking release of Sikh prisoners languishing in jails across India after completing their tenure, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Union Ministry of law and Justice to formulate a uniform policy in all States in this regard.
The national panel had asked the law Ministry to come up with a uniform policy in all States across the nation “for premature release of prisoners convicted in different cases from time-to-time”. In another major development, the Punjab Government has reportedly made up its mind to release 40 prisoners, out of the list of 82 handed over by the Sangharsh Committee, supporting hunger strike by Sikh activist Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa.
Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa (82) has been staging a hunger strike since January 16, protesting against the illegal and prolonged detention of the Sikh political prisoners. He has been seeking release of Sikh political prisoners, besides calling for an unconditional release of prisoners of all religions who have completed their terms.
Earlier also, similar protest was staged by a Sikh youth Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa, who discontinued fast only after the Punjab government assured release of Sikh prisoners, but did nothing till date. Sources informed that the SAD-BJP government in Punjab has decided to release 40 prisoners after considering all cases in detail. It has been learnt that the state government has also started the process of releasing these prisoners.
Only recently, the marathon meeting between the state government top rank officers, led by the state police chief Sumedh Singh Saini and Sangharsh Committee was held in Chandigarh, where the state Director General of Police (DGP) had assured the Sikh leaders of “positive results” while making it clear that Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa’s hunger strike should come to an end.
Already, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has also given an assurance to the Sikh activists on the issue of Sikh political prisoners. On the other hand, the Sikh activists have also categorically stated that hunger strike would not end till the state government’s efforts render any results.
At the same time, the Sikh organizations are also seeing a ray of hope in the NHRC’s directions to the law Ministry. “Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) had taken up by the matter with the NHRC…which has shown result,” said the DSGMC president and Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi unit) chief Manjit Singh GK. “NHRC’s directions would go a long way in solving the issue of release from jails, of all those who have completed their convictions period and are overstaying there which is utterly against the human rights laws,” he said.
He said that in many cases, the Sikh detainees have not got single day parole and are languishing in jails for more than 30 years and many of them got so old that they are not in conscious state of mind. “NHRC has given a time of eight weeks to the law Ministry to take action on the demand raised by DSGMC through a petition on May 11, 2015. We have raised a similar demand before the Supreme Court last month asking the NHRC to take appropriate steps,” said Manjit Singh.