Over a month after the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had declared in the Lok Sabha that “no pardon has been given” to Balwant Singh Rajoana, facing death sentence for assassinating Punjab’s then Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995, Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) high-level delegation on Sunday appealed to Shah to intervene to commute his death penalty.
The SAD delegation led by its president Sukhbir Badal, requested Shah to intervene and expedite the matter of Rajoana’s clemency with the competent authority to commute the death penalty awarded to him and ensure his release from prison at the earliest.
Taking up the issue of Rajoana with the Union Minister, the SAD delegation, comprising the senior SAD leadership, presidents of SGPC, DSGMC and heads of Takhat Sri Hazoor Sahib and Takht Sri Patna Sahib, on Sunday informed that he had already undergone 24 years of imprisonment without any parole.
It said that a clemency petition, under Article 72 of the Constitution, was filed by the SGPC on March 25, 2012, before the President which was still pending.
The delegation added that the commutation of Rajoana’s death penalty was announced as a goodwill gesture on the pious occasion of 550th years of celebrations of parkash purb of Guru Nanak Dev.
Shah’s statement, on December 3, 201z8, had led to a controversy of sorts as the reports of commutation of Rajoana’s death sentence had been doing the rounds ever since the Centre had announced to grant special remission to eight Sikh prisoners besides commuting death sentence of “one Sikh prisoner” on September 30 on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s 550th birth anniversary.
Soon after, the SAD had decided to meet Shah and also the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commute Rajoana’s death sentence and urge that he be released from prison immediately.
Rajoana is currently undergoing death sentence at Patiala Central Jail, and the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has moved a plea seeking commutation.
Taking up several other religious issues, the delegation urged Shah to constitute a national level celebrations’ committee to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary of ninth Sikh master Guru Teg Bahadur in a most befitting manner across the country.
The delegation apprised the Union Minister about the approaching 399th parkash purb of Guru Teg Bahadur on April 12, 2020, saying that the occasion symbolized the spirit of selfless sacrifice in defense of the defenseless against repression and tyranny.
“Guru Teg Bahadur laid down his life in the fight against religious bigotry, sectarian hatred and violence,” it said adding that Guru Sahib came to the defense of helpless Kashmiri Pandits who were facing forcible religious conversions.
The delegation also urged the Home Minister for setting up a National Integration Memorial in New Delhi in the memory of the great Guru besides requesting him to announce a national holiday on this pious occasion.
SAD chief Sukhbir Badal also took up the issue of denial of permission to the SGPC delegation to visit Nankana Sahib to assess the ground situation after the recent attack on Gurdwara Janam Asthan as well as targeting of members of the Sikh community.
He urged the Home Minister to take up the issue with the Pakistan authorities and also ask the Pakistan Government to take concrete steps to ensure the safety and security of members of the Sikh community as well as other minorities in Pakistan.