Several political and social outfits, including Dal Khalsa and SAD (Panch Pardani), today expressed solidarity with Gurbakash Singh who has been on a fast for the past 16 days seeking the release of five Sikh prisoners.
Representatives of Dal Khalsa, SAD (Panch Pardani), Sikh Youth of Punjab, Akali Dal Amritsar and Khalsa Panchayat today visited 48-year-old Gurbakash Singh and announced that they would observe one-day fast on December 2 at Gurdwara Amb Sahib in SAS Nagar.
S. Simranjit Singh Mann, President of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has said that Punjab and central governments shall be responsible for any loss to Bhai Gurbakash Singh.
Bhai Gurbakash Singh is seeking the release of five Sikh prisoners — Lakhvinder Singh, Gurmit Singh, Shamsher Singh (all Burail jail), Lal Singh (Nabha jail) and Gurdeep Singh — who have been languishing in jails for decades even after serving life sentence handed over to them by various courts in various cases in the 1980s.
Briefing the media, Harcharnjit Singh Dhami, Kanwar Pal Singh, Rajinder Singh and former IAS Gurtej Singh of Dal Khalsa, Satnam Singh Paonta Sahib of SAD (Panch Pardani), and advocate Harpal Singh Cheema of Khalsa Panchayat appealed to the people to join the fast from 10 AM to 5 PM on Monday.
They blamed successive governments for adopting a double standard against Sikhs. They urged the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee to come out in support of the cause. They also requested the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal to take up these cases with the Centre to ensure their release.
Others who were present include SSF head Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, Gurnam Singh Sidhu, Sandeep Kaur Kashtiwal, Noblejeet Singh.