Rajinderpal Singh approached Prem Singh Chandumajra (General Secretary of Shiromani Akali Dal and ex-MP of Patiala) urging him to act on the matter, after which, on 18 December Rajinderpal Singh, Amar Singh Chahal and Harpal Singh Cheema attended a high level meeting with CM of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal.
At this meeting, it was discussed why these prisoners were not being released and the question was asked of the Punjab Government, what action were they taking to ensure their release? Badal’s response was that the prisoner’s cases were outside of his jurisdiction; Shamsher Singh, Gurmit Singh and Lakhwinder Singh are in Burail Jail which falls under the Central Government, Lal Singh is in Gujarat, Gurdeep Singh Khera is in Karnataka and Varyam Singh is in UP, so he could not do anything about it.
At this point, RP Singh, Chahal and Cheema, highlighted to Chief Minister Badal, that when Balwant Singh Rajoana was due to be executed, Badal himself had gone to considerable lengths and held meetings with the President and Prime Minister of India and the execution had been ‘stayed’. They urged CM Badal that releasing the prisoners was within his powers and that this issue had been ignored for too long now.
CM Badal, asked the delegation for detailed information on each of the six prisoners in question, which they provided. In the presence of the delegation, CM Badal rang the CM of Gujarat (Narendar Modi) and CM of UP (Mulayam Singh) who were in a meeting and was unable to get hold of the CM of Karnataka. As the delegation left, he promised them that he would get in touch with all the CM’s and take the matter further.
On the same evening, Rajinderpal Singh received a call from the Punjab Government, that the State of Gujarat has looked into Lal Singh’s case and the matter of his parole was already lodged in the Supreme Court and in a matter of days he was going to get his parole leave anyway. SOPW have been helping with his case for many years now and we are well aware that every 6 months or so, Lal Singh routinely gets just over 20 days release to return home, so this leave has just been sped up – it is NOT a permanent release. However, what has been promised, is that his case will be resolved while he is out on parole and it is not expected that he will have to return to prison.
SOPW have been in contact with Lal Singh’s wife, Jasbir Kaur and she has confirmed that a 200,000Rs bail bond has been fulfilled. In the last hour or so, we have also received reports that Bhai Lal Singh has been released from prison, hours earlier than expected.
Next, is the case of Varyam Singh who has been in prison for over 23 years in Uttar Pardesh. He is over 80 years old now and SOPW have been dealing with Waryam Singh’s case through his nephew Major Singh, who we managed to get released this year, also after serving 23 years himself. Paperwork for Varyam Singh’s release had already been filed by SOPW and we were expecting him to be home by January, but the UP State Government have confirmed that he will be released in a day or two.
Then, there are the cases of Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmit Singh and Shamsher Singh, who for 18 years now, have been held at Burail Jail (Chandigarh), which falls under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. The Punjab Government are fast tracking the application for their release and it is expected that they too, will be free to return home in a couple of days.
Lastly, SOPW has the case of Gurdeep Singh Khera who has been in jail in Karnataka for 23 years. This matter is still pending, as the Punjab Government are still in talks with the State of Karnataka. However, it has been assured that they will continue to pursue this matter.
We pray to Waheguru that the heartfelt wish of Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa and the Sangat worldwide is fulfilled and that these six Singh’s are freed, having spent a large part of their lives locked away. TRUTH. JUSTICE. FREEDOM