Possible relief to Rajoana: In his village, family hopes for a Diwali reunion after 24 years

Balwant Singh hailed from village Rajoana Kalan in Raikot tehsil of Ludhiana district which has about 1250 voters. While Balwant Singh never married, but his elder brother, Kulwant Singh, did. Kulwant lives in the village with his family, and His paternal uncles live here too.

“He was arrested on December 24, 1995 and this December, he will complete 24 years. I feel he should have been earlier. It is a happy news for us, we are hearing it through media that his sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment. We still need official confirmation on it,” said Kulwant Singh.

Kulwant Singh, a farmer, has 10 acres land in the village. Balwant used to live in the same house where Kulwant now resides.

It was on December 24, 1995 that Balwant was arrested and then sentenced to death on August 1, 2007 by a special CBI court in Chandigarh. Beant Singh was killed by Dilawar Singh Babbar, Balwant’s associate. Balwant was the backup human bomb for the mission. Rajoana was a police constable when he conspired to kill Beant Singh along with another Dilawar Singh.

READ | No MHA confirmation on relief to Balwant Singh Rajoana, political war of words

Ravneet said,”Whatever he did was a reaction to what had happened in Punjab. So many innocent persons were killed and he was having that anger in his mind. Otherwise, he was never linked to any organisation. Ohna ne kaum de layi apna farz ada kita si (He did it for the Sikh community). We have met him a couple of times in jail. Though he has back problem, but he is mentally strong. We are too eager to see him out of jail.”

Sarpanch of the village, Nirmal Singh Toor, said,”Few in the village who support SAD must be happy and the rest must be unhappy and hence it is a mixed reaction in our village. Let’s see when proper clarification on his punishment comes. Otherwise, as of now villagers don’t want to show their reaction, these days everyone wants to be politically correct.”

Kamaldeep Kaur Rajoana, sister of Balwant Singh who lives in Ludhiana, said: “Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana was never linked to any Khalistani movement, but he listened to the voice of masses and took this action. Congress had killed many innocent youngsters. Congress had always remained anti-Sikh, they did 1984 massacre and killed Sikhs then in the name of Khalistan movement, they killed thousands of innocent persons in Punjab. Khalsapanth helped this struggle and rest we will be seeking clarification on the case soon.”

Meanwhile, Beant Singh’s grandson, Gurkirat Kotli, has said that the family is taking legal opinion and likely to move SC against any pardon being given to Balwant Singh Rajoana.

Ravneet Singh said,”This may be their political compulsion to do so. Otherwise, he was never linked with any organisation and hence what is the threat if he is released.”