MHA allows release of 70-yr-old Sikh militant on the ground of ‘old age’ and ‘good conduct’

Sikh groups and the Shiromani Akali Dal government in Punjab have been in favour of release of Sikh militants who have spent several years in jail. Towards the close of 2014, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal wrote to various state governments, requesting release of as many as 13 such prisoners. These include the killers of former Punjab CM Beant Singh.

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At that time, concerns were raised by the home ministry that such a move did not bode well for internal security and sent a wrong message.

Badal had written to his counterparts in UP, West Bengal, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

He also wrote similar letters to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and administrator of Chandigarh, seeking the release of Lakhwinder Singh, Shamsher Singh and Gurmeet Singh, who are serving life sentences in connection with the murder of Beant Singh.

One such letter was also written to UP government for the release of Waryam Singh.

Badal’s letters to various states were seen as a reaction to the politics of Punjab militancy heating up after one Gurbax Singh Khalsa went on hunger strike in Ambala in November 2014, demanding the release of six prisoners, including those convicted in the Beant Singh assassination case.