SGPC to intensify legal fight for release of Sikh prisoners

SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami on Saturday said a legal fight for the release of Sikh prisoners, who it claims have completed their sentence, will be intensified.

The apex gurdwara body has been pressing for the release of Sikh prisoners- 'Bandi Singhs', many of whom were arrested in connection with terror and separatist activities in Punjab during militancy years, claiming that they were being discriminated against in the grant of remission.

The chief of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee was speaking after meeting senior lawyers and retired judges to seek their suggestions on the issue.

He said this issue is '''most important for the community as Sikh prisoners have not been released even after they have completed their sentences''. Dhami said although the SGPC is already providing legal assistance to 'Bandi Singhs', now the case of Sikh prisoners will be presented jointly in view of different legal aspects.

The SGPC chief also said apart from working for the release of Sikh prisoners lodged in different jails for a long time, efforts will also be made for the release of Sikh youths implicated in several cases in recent years.

He said the issue of Sikh prisoners is related to the sentiments that ''erupted from the circumstances at that time'' and the governments should understand this reason.

Early this month, the SGPC had sought time from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a meeting to discuss the issue of the release of Sikh prisoners.

In the letter to the PM, Dhami had mentioned the names of nine Sikh prisoners, who had not been released even after they served their sentences.

The letter included the names of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, a 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict, and Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassination case.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)