Centre’s decision statesmanlike and humane, says Badal

Former chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Monday lauded the central government’s decision to commute Balwant Singh Rajoana’s death sentence to life imprisonment, terming it “statesmanlike, far-sighted and humane”.

The gesture will go a long way in assuaging the sentiments of the Sikh community, Badal said in a press statement.

“Every step that strengthens peace and communal harmony and cements the Hindu-Sikh unity in Punjab and the country should be welcomed by everyone,” he added.

Badal said when he was CM, he repeatedly asked the Centre to review its policy on Punjab in general and the Sikhs in particular. “But I had to face utter insensitivity and callousness during the Congress era,” he claimed.

The Akali stalwart said the SAD and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had always opposed death penalty as a matter of principle.

MAND HAILS DECISION

Parallel Akal Takht jathedar Dhian Singh Mand also hailed the Centre’s decision.

At a press conference here, he demanded that the remaining 22 Sikh political prisoners be also released in a goodwill gesture. Mand also appreciated the Narendra Modi government’s earlier decision to remove 312 names of Sikh foreign nationals from its blacklist.

He criticised Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, grandson of Beant Singh, for opposing the move to commute Rajoana’s death sentence to life term.

‘BOOK BITTU FOR ADMITTING TO KILLINGS IN BEANT’S TENURE’

Former Akali Dal minister Bikram Singh Majitha on Monday said that Ravneet Singh Bittu should be booked for his alleged admission of rampant extrajudicial killings during the tenure of his grandfather Beant Singh as Punjab chief minister.

Dubbing it as “genocide of Sikh youths” and human rights violations, Majithia said, “Since Bittu is privy to such information he should be hauled so that the gruesome truth comes out finally.”

Lamenting that Bittu was gloating over the fact that the killings took place, the Akali leader termed it “the most unfortunate time in the recent history of the country”.

› It (decision on Rajoana) will provide a healing touch to Sikhs. It will also strengthen peace and communal harmony in Punjab. SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL, SAD chief