CENTRE TO RELEASE EIGHT SIKH PRISONERS

Amarinder thanks Union home minister Amit Shah for accepting state govt’s plea to grant special remission for those whose release is not a threat to peace in Punjab or country

Eight Sikh prisoners, lodged in different jails across the country in cases registered against them for offences committed during the militancy period in Punjab, will be released by the central government on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November as a humanitarian gesture. The MHA said through a special remission, the death sentence of another Sikh prisoner was commuted to life term.

NEWDELHI/CHANDIGARH: Eight Sikh prisoners, lodged in different jails across the country in cases registered against them for offences committed during the militancy period in Punjab, will be released by the central government on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November as a humanitarian gesture.

The Union home ministry also announced that through a special remission, the death sentence of another Sikh prisoner was commuted to life imprisonment. The decision was taken by the government as a token of goodwill in response to the longpending demands of the release of Sikh prisoners articulated by various sections of the Sikh community.

LIST THAT STATE GOVT HAD SENT

Recently, the Punjab government had sent a list comprising the names of Lal Singh, Dilbagh Singh, Saran Singh, all lodged in the high-security Nabha jail, Hardeep Singh and Baj Singh, lodged in Amritsar central jail, Nand Singh (Patiala central jail), Subheg Singh (Ludhiana central jail), Gurdeep Singh Khera (Gulbarga

central jail in Karnataka), and Waryam Singh (Bareilly central jail in UP) for remission.

The list was sent following a meeting between Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Union home minister Amit Shah on September 3.

In a letter dated September 14, the CM had urged Shah to accept the state government’s formal proposal as a ‘goodwill gesture’ on humanitarian grounds.

He had said these prisoners had served their time and were now old. They deserved a chance to be reunited with their families and spend the remaining time of their lives with their kin, he said.

NO INFO ON RAJOANA

State government officials declined to comment whether the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted for the assassination of former chief minister Beant Singh, was commuted to life sentence.

“We are yet to get the final list,” said a senior official.

A communication to this effect was sent on Saturday to the state governments and union territories concerned for release of the Sikh prisoners.

The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak will be in November. Also, the government is planning to release more prisoners from jails across the country under the scheme for special remission to prisoners to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

So far, 1,424 prisoners have been released by states and UTs in two phases (October 2, 2018 and April 6, 2019).

The third phase of release is due on October 2 and action is underway by states and UTs, the spokesperson said.

On Saturday, CM Amarinder thanked Union home minister Amit Shah for accepting the state government’s proposal to grant special remission to nine Sikh prisoners.

The chief minister welcomed the Centre’s decision to accept the state’s plea for the release of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA) prisoners who had completed their sentence and whose release was not perceived to be prejudicial to the peace and security of Punjab or the country.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for the announcement.

“… We are very sure that this is just the starting point of the process to the review and release of all Sikh prisoners who had either served their full term or had been forced into unlawfulness under extenuating religious and emotional circumstances,” Sukhbir said in a press statement on Saturday.

AKALI DAL TOO HAILS MOVE AS SUKHBIR BADAL THANKS PM NARENDRA MODI, SAYS THIS IS JUST STARTING POINT OF PROCESS TO RELEASE ALL SUCH PRISONERS