AMRITSAR, Aug 15 — The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, talking to mediapersons here said the Sikh youths detained under TADA were being released gradually and their number had come down to 53.

The permanent board set up to review cases of such detainees “has” been freeing deserving detainees every three months,” he said. The cases of the remaining 53 detainees were being processed.

Mr Badal was commenting on the statement of the Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, who had said languishing of Sikh youths in jails was intolerable as many of them were implicated in false cases. He had further remarked that when the Central Government had released militants in Jammu and Kashmir to bring normalcy then why the Sikh youths continued to be detained.

Mr Badal was evasive in his reply when asked to clarify his party stand on separate identity of Sikhs as suggested by the Akal Takht Jathedar.

He categorically ruled out mid-term elections and said these would be held on the due date. He denied claims of the Congress that he had met the Chief Election Commission on this matter.

Mr Badal said he was not against unity with the Akali faction led by former SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra but denied that there was any unity move at present. He, however, suggested to Mr Tohra to “snap” ties with the Congress.

In reply to a question, he said he was in touch with the Centre for clarification over the return of rare manuscripts, books, symbols of Sikh Gurus and other articles taken away by the Army from the Sikh Reference Library in the Golden Temple complex during Operation Bluestar.

Mr Badal said the Harike wetland on the border of Amritsar and Ferozepore was being made as the biggest tourist spot as the bird sanctuary there was being developed as the number one sanctuary of Asia.

Mr Badal said the Centre had agreed to allow women to work with their men on their fields located beyond the wire-fencing on the Indo-Pak border. For this purpose two women constables would be posted at each gate of the fencing for frisking purposes.