Worried by the government's silence on the release of over-detained Sikh prisoners and the deteriorating health of Gurbaksh Singh, who is on hunger strike in SAS Nagar on the issue, Sikh radical group the Dal Khalsa on Wednesday asked Amnesty International to intervene.
The party has requested the non-government organisation (NGO) to begin a campaign for the release of the six militants detained long after their sentences are over, and whose release is being sought by Gurbaksh Singh. In a three-page letter to Amnesty's London office, the group has written that the Punjab government seems least concerned with the plight of Sikh prisoners who had served their full terms.
The status report on prisoners Gurmeet Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Shamsher Singh, all in Burail jail; Gurdeep Singh (in Karnataka); Lal Singh (Gujarat); and Waryam Singh (Uttar Pradesh) is appended with the letter. Party leaders HS Dhami and spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said Indian laws regarding the release of indeterminate-sentence prisoners were open to interpretation and prevarication of the executive.
"Technically speaking, none of the cases are sub judice and only the executive has to take a final decision. Their continued detentinon is violation of the Constitution and the UN Declaration of Human Rights," reads the letter.
{{/usCountry}}"Technically speaking, none of the cases are sub judice and only the executive has to take a final decision. Their continued detentinon is violation of the Constitution and the UN Declaration of Human Rights," reads the letter.
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