AAP delaying Bhullar release, fears losing Hindu votes, says his wife

Talking to The Indian Express, Navneet Kaur said AAP was delaying the decision on Bhullar’s “release” due to the “perception” of “losing Hindu votes”.

“Hindu community members are educated. It is not that they will not vote [if a decision to release Bhullar is taken]. They have that much awareness,” Navneet Kaur said, adding that AAP government in Delhi had “power” to clear the case for release, but “did not have intention” to do so.

“Now, we are losing faith in law. Kejriwal is saying that it [taking a decision on the matter] is not in his hands. How is it not in his hands?,” asked Navneet.

“It is being said that politics is at play and all parties are doing politics. Some people are saying SAD and Congress are doing politics over the issue. But, according to me, AAP itself is doing politics by not clearing the case. What problem do they have? Why are they looking at it from political angle? Why don’t they look at it from humanitarian and legal viewpoint? Why do they say that they will look into it after polls? We are feeling tortured with every passing moment. There is no hurdle from Centre,” said Navneet Kaur.

She said that Bhullar had been out on parole “13 times” and his “all reports have been OK” with “neighbourhood strongly noting that there is no threat” from him. “No political party has approached me. It is Sikh organizations, rights groups and religious organizations like SGPC, which are raising the issue to demand the release,” she added. The issue of Bhullar’s premature release hit headlines again last month in Punjab when it emerged that Delhi government’s SRB has rejected his plea in its meeting on December 11, 2020. Amid clamour by Sikh organizations and activists, SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal last month had also called for “immediate release” of Bhullar “in the larger interest of consolidating peace and communal harmony in Punjab”. As per the minutes of December 2020 meeting of the SRB, chaired by Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain, Bhullar’s premature release “at this stage” was rejected “after taking into account all the facts and circumstances of the case i.e. involvement in anti-national/terrorist activities, gravity and perversity of the crime and having previous criminal history”.

The minutes of meeting noted that Bhullar was undergoing imprisonment in a case dating back to 1993 for offences, which included murder, attempt to murder and under sections of TADA Act registered at Parliament Street, Delhi “for committing multiple murders in Terrorist Activity by explosion in a car outside Raisana Road on 11.09.1993”.
The meeting noted that Bhullar had gone “imprisonment of 23 years, 09 months and 17 days in actual as per Commutation Roll dated 09.01.2019 received from Superintendent, Central Jail, Amritsar, Punjab.”

As per the minutes of meeting, Punjab Police did not oppose the premature release. Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police (Legal) opposed the premature release in the meeting. The Punjab Social Welfare Department, as per minutes of meeting, “neither recommended nor opposed in its report; The Director, Social Welfare Department, Delhi has not supported his premature release in the meeting”.

Bhullar’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court on March 31, 2014. He was shifted to Amritsar Central Jail from Tihar jail in June 2015. From Amritsar Jail he was shifted to a government facility for psychiatric treatment. He continues to be there at the same facility. Bhullar’s name was among eight prisoners whose cases were recommended by Centre to respective states for special remission and release under Article 161 of the Constitution to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, in September 2019.

On December 9 last year, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition moved by All India Anti-Terrorist Front chairman Maninderjit Singh Bitta to oppose Bhullar’s release.

Navneet Kaur said that SRB, which rejected premature release of Bhullar in 2020, should not have taken any decision in the case as Bitta’s petition was pending in the Supreme Court at that time. Navneet Kaur added, “We were not conveyed that the case was rejected by SRB”.

Blaming AAP for “not solving” the issue which “not only Punjabis, but NRIs also want to get addressed”, Navneet Kaur said, “AAP is one-man party. With much difficulty, it had to announce CM face in Punjab. They should have made an effort to make party strong in Punjab. It was because of Punjabis that they got votes in Delhi. The only state in the country, which supported AAP is Punjab. NRIs supported AAP in a big way in last [Punjab] elections, but they are quiet now. Every NRI family has at least ten votes back home here in Punjab.”