SGPC plans nationwide signature campaign for release of 'Bandi Singhs'

Now it has been decided to honour dignitaries only with books instead of siropao, shawl and mementoes in every educational institution.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to launch a nationwide signature campaign from December 1 to demand the release of ''Bandi Singhs'', the Sikh prisoners which the religious body claims are still lodged in different jails despite completion of their sentences.

Speaking to the media after the SGPC executive committee meeting here on Tuesday, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the centre of this campaign will be the SGPC office in Amritsar and sub-centres will be established in every district of Punjab and Sikh missions outside the state.

During the campaign, camps will be set up at gurudwaras, educational institutions, railway stations, bus stands, cities, towns and important intersections, he said.

said president of SGPC, which is the apex religious body of the Sikhs.

During the campaign, awareness will be raised among the community members about the cases of Sikh prisoners and the punishment they have served, he said.

He said that after the signature campaign, a one-day protest will be held in Chandigarh and thereafter a memorandum will be handed over to the Governor of Punjab.

Dhami had earlier said that Sikh prisoners were lodged in different jails for nearly three decades despite completion of their sentences and this was a ''big injustice'' to the Sikh community.

The SGPC, the apex religious body of the Sikhs, has been demanding the release of Sikh prisoners through democratic means for a long time, he had said.

After Tuesday's meeting, Dhami said that following the direction from Akal Takht, which is the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, the SGPC had appealed to the Government of India to observe the martyrdom day of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh's 'Sahibzadas' -- four sons who attained martyrdom during the Mughal rule -- as 'Sahibzade Shahadat Diwas' instead of 'Veer Bal Diwas'.

The SGPC president said that rules have been framed for the proper use of 'siropao' (robe of honour) in the future. ''Now it has been decided to honour dignitaries only with books instead of 'siropao', shawl and mementoes in every educational institution. Even at gurudwaras, orders have been issued to ensure use of 'siropao' as per the Gurmat. Only those who have contributed to Panthic (community) causes will be honoured with siropao, while books will be given to other respected personalities,'' he said.

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