Form national panel to mark 400th Parkash Purb of Guru Teg Bahadur: SAD to Shah

The SAD delegation also requested the home minister to intervene and expedite the matter of clemency of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana with the competent authority to commute the death penalty awarded to him

Chandigarh A high-level delegation of Shiromani Akali DaI (SAD) led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday urged Union home minister Amit Shah to form a national-level celebrations committee to commemorate the 400th birth anniversary of ninth Sikh guru Guru Teg Bahadur that will fall in 2020. The Guru’s 399th anniversary will be celebrated on April 12 this year.

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Takes up issue of Rajoana’s clemency

The SAD delegation, comprising the senior SAD leadership, presidents of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC); the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) and heads of Takht Hazoor Sahib and Takht Patna Sahib also requested the home minister to intervene and expedite the matter of clemency of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana with the competent authority to commute the death penalty awarded to him. They also requested his early release from prison.

The delegation added that a clemency petition under article 72 of the Constitution was filed by the SGPC on March 25, 2012 before the President, which was still pending. It added that the commutation of death penalty of Rajoana was announced as a goodwill gesture on the occasion of 550th anniversary celebration of Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev.

The SAD delegation also urged Shah to set up a National Integration Memorial in New Delhi in the memory of the Guru, besides requesting him to announce a national holiday on this pious occasion. Sukhbir also raised the issue of denial of permission to the SGPC delegation to visit Nankana Sahib to assess the ground situation after the recent attack on Gurdwara Janam Asthan as well as targeting of the members of the Sikh community.