The 80-year old Sikh activist, Surat Singh Khalsa, has refused to bow down to the pressure of the Government authorities and stands by his demand for the release of Sikh prisoners who are languishing in jails across the country even after completing their sentences. On fast-unto-death since January 16, Khalsa has also given up water since Punjab Police forcibly brought him to the civil hospital in ludhiana on Monday evening, till the filing of this report. Khalsa refused to drink even a drop of water demanding that the leaders, arrested for supporting his protest, should also be released. Accepting his demand, the radical Sikh leaders - Gurdeep Singh Bathinda and Mokham Singh - were released on Tuesday.
While Bathinda was arrested from ludhiana on Monday, Mokham Singh courted arrest on Sunday, along with other leaders, when police stopped their march to ludhiana’s Hassanpur village, where Khalsa was on his hunger-strike. Khalsa’s son Ravinderpal Singh Goggi maintained that his father has refused to drink water until all those arrested while supporting his cause are released.
He said that his father had been surviving on lime juice and water since undertaking the fast on January 16. Khalsa also declined to give samples for medical tests.
He said that Jagraon Superintendent of Police Ravcharan Brar visited the civil hospital, where Khalsa was forcibly admitted when his health declined, on Monday evening and informed them that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had ordered the release of Khalsa’s supporters.
It is learnt that Khalsa’s supporters, who have been released by the police, were planning to gherao the ludhiana civil hospital. The area around Civil Hospital, meanwhile, remained tense with heavy police deployment.