India moves to assuage Sikhs, derail ‘K2’
NEWDELHI: The decision to release eight Sikh prisoners and commute the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, the main conspirator in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh, is the culmination of various key steps taken by the Union government to assuage the sentiments of the Sikh community and derail Pakistan’s “K2” (Kashmir & Khalistan) plan, according to senior officials in the government and security community.
India announced late on Saturday that eight Sikh prisoners housed in Indian jails – Lal Singh, Davindar Pal Singh Bhullar, Harjinder Singh, Gurdeep Singh Khera, Waryam Singh, Subheg Singh, Nand Singh and Balbir Singh – would be prematurely released in a special exemption coinciding with the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. It also said that the death sentence handed to Rajoana, of the Babbar Khalsa International group, was being commuted to a life sentence.
Officials said that this follows close on the heels of the virtual eradication of a 35-year-old “black list” that prevented 312 members of the Sikh community holding foreign passports from travelling to India due to their alleged role during the militant Khalistan movement in Punjab.
The officials cited above said the moves were in the pipeline since 2015, and were accelerated soon after the Narendra Modi government returned to power this year. Its objectives: “heal the wounds of the Sikh community”, and “wean away hardliners living abroad” from a conspiracy by Pakistan’s spy agency, ISI, to revive militancy in Punjab.
This, they added, is part of the ISI’S “K2” plan to exploit sentiments in Kashmir and Punjab. “The Indian government has