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SAD seeks clemency for Bhullar
Urges PM to ‘avoid any step’ that may threaten peace
SP Sharma
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 13
Seeking clemency for Devinder Singh Bhullar, the core committee of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “to operationalise the post-judicial mechanism of statesmanship in order to avoid, even at this stage, any step that may pose a threat to peace and communal harmony in the country in general and Punjab in particular”.

An emergency meeting of the panel was convened at Talwandi Sabo after the Baisakhi mela. The meeting went on for around 3 hours.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also the SAD president, presided over the meeting. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal were among those who participated in the meeting.

A resolution passed at the meeting described as “deeply painful, unfortunate and worrying” the rejection by the Supreme Court of the petition for commuting the death sentence of Bhullar who was involved in a car bomb blast outside the Congress headquarters in Delhi in 1993. Security personnel were killed in the incident.

Harcharan Bains, adviser on National Affairs to CM Parkash Singh Badal, said the CM and the Deputy CM would meet Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and urge them to operationalise the post-judicial mechanism of statesmanship to deal with such cases. They would also meet President Pranabh Mukerjee, he added.

The panel appealed to the people and eminent public figures to work towards a solution to the issue in a manner that strengthened emotional bonds among different segments and communities. It observed the Supreme Court judgment should not be carried out on the grounds of poor health of Bhullar. “Rushing to carry out the judgment in defiance of this basic humanitarian and legal consideration would send a wrong signal to the people,” said the resolution.

According to Bains, the meeting was of the view that hanging an accused conspirator when the main accused had been acquitted in the case would set an undesirable precedent in the country.

“The SAD is firmly of the opinion that decisions on issues having a bearing on peace and communal harmony should be taken with utmost care,” observed the core committee.