“It is a victory of the lok lehar (people’s movement)..a victory of good over evil.” This was the first reaction of farmer leader Manjeet Singh Dhaner after walking out of jail at 8.30 pm Thursday, a day after being pardoned by the state Governor. Dhaner, senior vice-president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda), was sentenced for life in a murder case in September. He was welcomed by his supporters from farmer unions, student organisations, who had been on an indefinite dharna to seek his release. Dressed in white kurta-pyjama and green turban, Dhaner went straight to the ‘Pakka Morcha’ (indefinite strike) stage set up opposite the Barnala jail since September 29 — the day of his surrender. With his supporters refusing to budge, the dharna completed 45 days on Wednesday when his pardon order was signed. On September 3, the apex court had dismissed an over eight-year-old appeal filed by Dhaner and upheld the High Court’s decision to convict him for life. The case pertained to the death of an 85-year-old man in 2001 during a protest by in Barnala court complex over a 1997 rape and murder case. The protest was being led by Dhaner, and the 85-year-old belonged to the family of the accused in the rape and murder case. While two other accused in the case — Narain Dutt and Prem Kumar — were acquitted, Dhaner’s sentence was upheld in the High Court. Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), said, “He (Dhaner) will sleep here tonight at the ‘Pakka Morcha’. Tomorrow afternoon, he will be taken to his village Dhaner in Mehal Kalan constituency amid beats of dhols as it is a victory of people’s movement seeking justice for the innocent.” Dhaner, in the meantime, was seen discussing stubble burning cases and asking about the farmers who have been arrested. “We will be doing a protest against all these issues now against the Punjab government,” he said. Narain Dutt said,”We all were falsely implicated as we were the leading activists in the case of brutal murder and rape of a teenager. Though I and Prem were acquitted, but Manjeet was sentenced. So we fought and finally we have won. Manjeet was pardoned not once, but twice by the Governor Punjab.” On July 24, 2007, the then Punjab Governor had pardoned all the three in the case. But this pardon order was set aside by the HC on 11 March 2008. Later, Dutt and Kumar were acquitted on an appeal, but Dhaner’s sentence was upheld. The Supreme Court upheld the HC verdict this year. The 62-year-old was finally pardoned again by the present Governor V P Singh Badnore on November 13. The notification issued in this regard on Thursday by the Punjab government read: “Keeping in view of the relevant material and facts, mitigating factors and special circumstances of the case and reports of ADGP (Prisons) Punjab, District Magistrate Barnala and SSP, Barnala, the Governor of Punjab is pleased to grant pardon to the life convict Manjeet Singh, son of Jarnail Singh, District Jail, Barnala in exercising of the powers vested under Article 161 of the Constitution.” Barnala DC Tej Partap Singh Phoolka said that the notification was received by the jail authorities late in the evening. Addressing the ‘Pakka Morcha’, farmer leader Buta Singh Burjgill said: “Apart from men, women used to come in large numbers which indicated the commitment to our struggle. Dhaner was implicated falsely for staying strong against rape accused. So we had to stand by for him. It is a victory of our untiring efforts.” Another farmer union leader Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan called it a victory of the people. “Over four crore have been spent on this morcha in which our langar used to be cooked right here. Daily people used to come and go, hence transportation cost was a lot. But all this was managed through voluntary donations,” said Narain Dutt. “Protesters observed Diwali and 550th Gurupurab here. Plays, poetry, songs on keeping the struggle strong continued throughout the morcha,” said Randeep Sangatpura, another activist. The organisers of the morcha said that Dhaner will address his supporters on Friday, after which he will be escorted home, from where all protesters will disperse. As per the jail roll, the Dhaner underwent one year, four months, 20 days actual sentence and three years, seven months and 13 days with remission (excluding parole) up to September 25,2019.
