SAD issues week’s ultimatum to govt to arrest killers of two Akali leaders

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday issued a week’s ultimatum to the Capt Amarinder Singh government to arrest the killers of former Akali sarpanches Baba Gurdeeep Singh and Dalbir Singh Dhilwan failing which the party would launch an agitation to ensure justice in alleged political murder cases.

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Former Akali sarpanches Gurdeeep Singh and Dhilwan were killed in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts.

At a meeting presided over by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badalin Chandigarh, the party’s core committee said the spate of political assassinations of Akali leaders by gangsters with alleged links to Congress leaders and ministers are unprecedented.

It said the party was committed to breaking the gangster-minister nexus in Punjab and would take steps in this regard be it going to the people or the courts.

The core committee also announced that it would hold protests to ensure withdrawal of unprecedented power tariff hike in Punjab, saying it had put an unbearable burden on the common man and made industries unsustainable. Sukhbir said that the SAD would not allow the Congress government to pass on its inefficiencies as well as management failures to the consumers. He announced that the party would hold district-level dharnas across the state to demand immediate withdrawal of the power hike. The first dharna will be held at Sangrur on February 2 followed by Bathinda, Ferozepur and Fazilka, he said.

It was also decided that a delegation of senior leaders would meet both the Prime Minister and the home minister to convey the sentiments of the Sikh community regarding the continued incarceration of Balwant Singh Rajoana, serving death sentence for the killing of former chief minister Beant Singh.

The core committee decided that the delegation would urge the central leadership to commute Rajoana’s death sentence and demand that he be released from prison immediately.

The core committee also took note of the “sacrilegious” conduct of jails minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and condemned him for “ridiculing” Guru Nanak and comparing him with chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. It said such shameful conduct had hurt the religious sentiments of the entire Sikh community and that a case under Section 295A should be registered against him immediately besides his immediate dismissal from the state cabinet.

The recent instances of cases being registered against 55 Sikh devotees who were participating in a nagar kirtan at Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and devastation of nine houses and 200 acres of land belonging to Sikh families in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh was also taken up for discussion. The core committee appointed a two-member committee of MPs Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Naresh Gujral to look into the incidents and suggest remedies. The MPs will visit both places and will also take up cases of the victims appropriately.

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SUKHBIR MEETS RAJOANA’S SISTER, ASSURES SUPPORT

LUDHIANA: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday met Kamaldeep Kaur, sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana who on a death row in the assassination of former chief minister Beant Singh and said senior party leaders will urge the central government to commute his death sentence and demand his release from jail.

Rajoana had announced to start hunger strike from January 11 against the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for allegedly not pursuing his plea for commuting capital punishment sincerely.

“We urge Rajoana not to go on hunger strike. The core committee of the party has decided to meet the Prime Minister and home minister to commute his death sentence,” said Sukhbir.

The SAD chief said Rajoana’s issue is closely associated with sentiments of the Sikh community. “The SAD will continue to provide support to Rajoana and his family, he said, adding: “Rajoana was booked under Section 120B that stands for criminal conspiracy and he is on a death row, while the convicts in the case have been sentenced to life imprisonment,” said Sukhbir.

He lambasted Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu for opposing commutation of Rajoana’s death penalty.