SGPC asks Centre ‘not to test patience of Sikhs’

SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami. (Photo | PTI)
SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami. (Photo | PTI)

December 1, 2023

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC )president Harjinder Singh Dhami on Thursday asked Centre “not to test the patience of Sikhs” and said that it must take a decision on the mercy petitions and release of Sikh prisoners.

The SGPC also decided to call a meeting of representatives of the ‘Panthic’ parties to discuss the issue of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case.

This came after Rajoana wrote to the SGPC seeking withdrawal of a mercy petition it had filed to the president in 2012. Rajoana is currently lodged in the Patiala central jail.

The SGPC has been seeking the release of several Sikh prisoners, including Rajoana and Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, a 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict.

Dhami said the matter pertaining to the letter by Rajoana, is very serious, on which a decision can be taken only according to the “common opinion” after knowing the views of the ‘Panthic’ representatives.

“We are not begging for the justice. All we want is that Union government take a decision on the mercy petition. That decision should be taken immediately. There is a notification of Union government from 2019. The word ‘may’ is used on release of Sikh prisoners. May shouldn’t be used to delay the decision on release. Our demand is to take the decision this side or that side. Don’t test the patience of Sikhs,” Dhami further said.

“This negative attitude of the Centre is going to make the Sikhs feel alienated. The governments are creating an environment of mistrust among the Sikhs, which is not in the interest of the country,” he further said.

The SGPC president said that Rajoana has been given the title of ‘Zinda Shaheed (Living Martyr)’ by the Akal Takht and the SGPC was continuously “working for this warrior of the community and will stand by him like a rock in the future as well”.

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