NO ROLE IN COMMUTING DEATH SENTENCE OF RAJOANA, SAYS CAPT
Ludhiana MP Bittu slams Centre’s move, says the terrorist should not be spared at any cost
Chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said the Punjab government has no role in the Centre’s move to commute Balwant Singh Rajoana’s death sentence to life imprisonment but he was “personally against capital punishment”, even as his party’s Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu questioned the decision, saying the dreaded terrorist should not be spared at any cost.
Rajoana was convicted for the assassination of Bittu’s grandfather and former CM Beant Singh in August 1995. The Centre has also decided to release eight Sikh prisoners as a humanitarian gesture on the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak.
Talking to mediapersons at the Ludhiana mini secretariat where he and Bittu were accompanying Captain Sandeep Sandhu, the Congress candidate from Dakha for filing his nomination for the bypoll, the CM said, “All cases of death penalty should be commuted to life imprisonment. I had said this back in 2012 too.”
But he defended the Congress’ stand on the Beant killers, saying, “I have always been clear and consistent — that they should serve their full sentence. The Centre had sought a list of 17 prisoners booked under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention (TADA) Act from the state government. Rajoana’s name was on the list submitted to the Centre as he was also a TADA prisoner who had completed more than 14 years in jail, like the others.”
“The state has no role in the Centre’s decision. In fact, the state government is yet to receive the names of the nine prisoners who have been given a special exemption by the Union home ministry,” he added.
Speaking to the media a few metres away, MP Bittu strongly differed from Amarinder, saying, “”Who are they (Centre) to commute the death sentence to life term when the Supreme Court has given capital punishment (to Rajoana)?”
“The BJP is indulging in petty politics to woo the Sikh voters despite the prime minister vowing to fight terrorism on a global platform,” he added.
Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were playing with fire, he said, “My family suffered a lot with the killing of my grandfather but we are prepared for another battle and would not let the BJP push Punjab into dark days of terrorism.”
Reacting to a query, Amarinder said, “As an ex-armyman, I can assure the people that we are fully prepared to counter any threat and will not let the peace of Punjab be disturbed under any circumstances.”
He said Pakistan is trying to spoil Punjab’s hard-earned peace by pushing terrorists and weapons into the state and his government would take all possible steps to tighten the security further.