Chandigarh: The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to intensify its stir for the release of the ‘Bandi Singhs’ despite the recent attack on its president, Harjinder Singh Dhami, by alleged supporters of the Quami Insaaf Morcha in Mohali.
The executive committee of the SGPC, the apex religious body of the Sikhs, decided Friday to approach the United Nations (UN) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the matter.
The ‘Bandi Singhs’ are Sikh prisoners who were arrested for various crimes committed during the days of militancy in Punjab and have already spent the mandatory period in jail, and who can be released for good conduct under the provisions of the law.
Dhami, addressing mediapersons following the meeting of the SGPC’s executive committee on Friday, said “the government’s injustice towards the Sikhs who have served jail terms for three decades is a major violation of human rights, and this voice will now be raised on international platforms”.
The SGPC had late last year started a worldwide signature campaign for the release of nine Bandi Singhs and, according to Dhami, “more than 10 lakh people have already signed the SGPC’s demand letter to the President of India”.
Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Wednesday met the jathedar (central head) of the Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh, at Takht Damdama Sahib and signed the campaign proforma (demanding release of Sikh prisoners) along with some BJP leaders. The SGPC is getting such proformas filled at about 90 centres at historical gurdwaras.
A sit-in protest is also currently under way on the Chandigarh-Mohali border by a conglomeration of radical Sikh bodies under the banner of ‘Quami Insaaf Morcha’. They are demanding the release of the same nine Bandi Singhs who are facing life sentences and have been in jail for a period of 17 to 32 years.
A list of 24 Bandi Singhs, including the nine mentioned above, has been prepared by the organisers of the morcha.
On January 18, the SGPC president was attacked by alleged supporters of the Quami Insaaf Morcha at the protest site for what the organisers of the protest called “pending Sikh issues with the SGPC” and the resultant resentment among the Sikh community.
The SGPC Friday also decided to give Rs 20,000 per month as honorarium to the families of the nine Bandi Singhs. These include Gurdeep Singh Khera, Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, Balwant Singh Rajoana, Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara, Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Shamsher Singh and Paramjit Singh Bheora. Dhami said that Rajoana has already been given this honorarium.
“The battle for the release of Sikh prisoners will be fought at all levels and governments will have to back down to the voice of the Sikh community,” Dhami told the media Friday, adding that for legal remedies in this regard, a six-member legal advisory board had been constituted that comprised advocates.
Members of the International Sikh Advisory Board, formed by the SGPC’s executive committee, have been asked to get campaign proformas signed online.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also read: SGPC & Quami Insaaf Morcha fight for common cause of ‘Bandi Singhs’ in Punjab. Who are they?