M A I N   N E W S

Akali leaders unite for Bhullar
T.R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 25
In a rare show of solidarity, SAD chief and former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, SHSAD leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Simranjit Singh Mann of the Akali Dal (Amritsar) met Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and sought clemency for Davinderpal Singh Bhullar for his alleged attack on the then Indian Youth Congress President, Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, in 1993.

The coming together of the leaders of the splintered Akali Dal on the Bhullar issue has raised hopes of a unity in their ranks. They impressed upon Mr Advani and Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley that the widespread feeling of the Sikh community in the country and abroad is that Bhullar should be granted clemency.

The three Akali leaders also drew Mr Advani’s pointed attention to different yardstick being applied for heinous crimes like the November Delhi riots after the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Clearly, the effort is to strive for commuting the death sentence awarded to Bhullar.

Mr Advani is believed to have told the three leaders that it is advisable to wait for the outcome of the curative writ filed by Mr Ram Jethmalani in the Supreme Court against the apex court’s judgement in the case of Bhullar as it was not a unanimous verdict. Sources said the Supreme Court is yet to constitute a larger five-judge Bench to review the order.

The internecine problems between Mr Badal and Mr Tohra led to a split in the SAD in 1998. With the faction leaders pulling in different directions, Mr Tohra was ousted as the President of the SGPC. At the time of the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa in April, 1999, Mr Badal and Mr Tohra held parallel functions. Since then Mr Badal and Mr Tohra have rarely seen eye to eye, met socially or come together on a common platform.

A strong section in Akali politics believes it is imperative to have unity in the Akali Dal to fight divisive forces and deal with the challenges ahead. Attempts in the past to forge Akali unity failed to make any headway. They visualise a ray of hope in the coming together of Mr Badal, Mr Tohra and Mr Mann on the Bhullar issue.

Mr Mann, however, categorically ruled out any unity in the Akali Dal and maintained that the three leaders met Mr Advani and Mr Jaitley only on the specious issue of seeking clemency for Bhullar who was deported from Germany to stand trial in the case pertaining to the attack on Mr Bitta.