SAD president Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday said that the party was in favour of freeing Balwant Singh Rajoana from prison expeditiously in keeping with the sentiments of Sikh panth. AT the same time, he condemned the Congress party for rejecting the spirit of clemency on the 550th parkash purb of Guru Nanak Dev, and seeking to reignite communal passions in Punjab by refusing to follow a humane approach in the case.
“Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is also following a duplicitous role in the case which is coming in the way of reprieve for Bhai Rajoana who has already been incarcerated for more than 23 years without parole. While the chief minister had done nothing to ensure reprieve to Bhai Rajoana, he had moved with alacrity to recommend pardon for four killer cops who had abducted and killed an innocent Sikh youth in 1993 to secure out of turn promotions,” said Sukhbir.
He said that the Chief Minister should make his stand clear and state whether he was in favour of commutation of Bhai Rajoana’s sentence or not.
Stating that it was unfortunate that politics was being played on this issue by the Congress party and particularly Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu, Sukhbir said that the Congress MP should realize the repercussions of following a policy of hatred and instead should use this occasion to apologize for the genocide committed on innocent Sikh youth by his grandfather and former Chief Minister Beant Singh.
Stating that SAD had pursued Bhai Rajoana’s case relentlessly since years, Sukhbir said “we stand for adopting a humanitarian approach and have conveyed the same to the Union Government on various instances.”
He said that the SAD would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon and apprise him about the special circumstances to ensure Bhai Rajoana’s sentence was commuted. “I am confident that the Home Minister will see our point of view as well as that of the Sikh community and take an appropriate decision in the matter,” he added.