After spending 25 years behind bars, TADA-convict Waryam Singh — one of the 13 Sikh prisoners whose release has been demanded by the Punjab government — has been released on Thursday.
The Centre, in October this year, had given its go-ahead to release Waryam Singh on the grounds of his “good conduct” in the jail.
The 70-year-old Sikh prisoner Waryam Singh was serving a life term in Uttar Pradesh’s Brailley jail since 1990.
Waryam Singh and many other Sikh prisoners have been at the heart of a politically-charged debate in Punjab with Sikh groups accusing the ruling Akali Dal of failing to get ally BJP to release terror convicts jailed in the 1990s for their involvement in the separatist Khalistan movement.
He was arrested in 1990 and convicted for life imprisonment five years later under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the anti-terror law that was replaced in 1995.
Sources said that the Home Ministry took note of the fact that in 25 years, he had never taken parole and had a spotless record. It has been learnt that the Central Government has released Waryam Singh by pardoning him using its constitutional powers.
His release was recommended by the Uttar Pradesh government, which in its appeal has stated that he was over 70. Sikh groups had met Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav earlier this year to push for Waryam Singh’s release.
Born in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, Waryam Singh is one of the 13 Sikh prisoners whose release has been demanded by the Punjab government. If he walks free, it will be a big boost for the state’s ruling Akali Dal-BJP coalition but it will also spur demands for release of other Sikh prisoners lodged in different jails.
His nephew Major Singh was also remained lodged in Nabha Jail, and was released in 2012.
Waryam Singh was in the list of those Sikh prisoners released by Sikh activist Surat Singh Khalsa, who was on almost a year-long fast, advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur and the list of 13 Sikh prisoners released by Badal government, which had also demanded his release.
Even as the Punjab government and SAD has been staking claims for Waryam Singh;s release, it is believed that former Akali leader and now Cabinet Minister in Uttar Pradesh Government Balwant Singh Ramoowalia had made concentrated efforts to enable his release.