4 min readLudhianaFeb 19, 2023 04:43 AM IST
First published on: Feb 19, 2023 at 04:43 AM IST
A signature campaign started for the release of Bandi Singhs has crossed the 16.5 lakh mark and will be submitted to the Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit once the figure touches 30 lakh, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) media wing said on Saturday while talking to the Indian Express.
As per details, the signature campaign to free Bandi Singhs — Sikh prisoners who have completed their prison terms — was launched by SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami on December 1 from Attari.
On Saturday, campaign reached Badal village in Muktsar district where former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal put down their signatures on the SGPC form to extend support for the release of Sikh prisoners.
Later, Sukhbir posted photos of the same on his Twitter handle and said, “It was an honour to join lakhs of Punjabis in signing a petition seeking the release of Bandi Singhs, who continue to be in jails despite completing their sentences. I appeal to Akali dal workers to assist SGPC in completing the task by this Baisakhi.”
The SGPC said that it had provided a link for people outside Punjab and those living abroad to put down their signatures digitally. In Punjab, an SGPC official said, most people had so far opted to put down their signatures in-person.
The most number of signatures, the committee added, have come from Punjab and Haryana, where a majority of the Punjabi population is located.
Prodded for a breakup, the SGPC office said that so far around 16.5 lakh forms have been filled in the offline mode, with another 16133 forms being filled in the online mode. All the SGPC members — around 150 in total — have been urged to approach masses in their respective constituencies from where they have been elected and collect as many signatures as possible .
Interestingly, Qaumi Insaaf Morcha — a group supported by various panthic organisations — have also been staging an indefinite dharna at YPS chowk on the border of Mohali and Chandigarh since January 7 to press for the release of Bandi Singhs. The members of the morcha have previously tried to march to CM Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Chandigarh multiple time, being prevented by security forces from crossing the border each time.
On Saturday, SAD president Sukhbir Badal also urged all Punjabis should sign the forms demanding the release of Bandi Singhs, irrespective of their political affiliations.
Badal said that for a record six times, the file for the release of Davinderpal Singh Bhullar had been recently been returned by the AAP government in Delhi.
He said that similarly, the Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab too has refused to give approval for the release of Gurmeet Singh Engineer.
Badal went on to add that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to release these Bandi Sikhs on 550th Prakash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev but never kept his promise. The SAD chief said that the rule of law should be same for everyone and every prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment ought to get the option to be released after 14 years of imprisonment. Some of the Bandi Singhs, however, he claimed, had completed more than 30 years in prison and still their pleas for release were being turned down.
Responding to a question later, Badal said thousands of Sikhs were massacred in the attack on Sri Darbar Sahib in 1984, all due to the Congress. He said that these Sikhs later took revenge for the atrocities committed on them. Sukhbir also said that the Parkash Singh Badal-led state government had refused to execute orders of the court for execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana.
SAD chief Sukhbir Badal signs the form on Saturday. (Express Photo) 
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