The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in saving the life of death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar whose mercy petition had been rejected by the President. In a statement, the ruling party in Punjab sought "direct and immediate intervention of the prime minister to save the life of Bhullar on grounds of humanitarianism and civilised concern and above all the national interest".
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President Avtar Singh makkar on Friday reacted strongly against the rejection of the death commutation plea of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, a death row convict, by the Supreme Court, terming it a 'murder of law'.
Bhullar was convicted for carrying out a bomb blast in New Delhi outside the All India Youth Congress headquarters in 1993, which claimed nine lives. His mercy plea was rejected in May 2011.
The Delhi government has set up a medical board to examine the health condition of death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who has been admitted in a Delhi hospital for the last two years. Top Delhi government officials said the medical board, comprising a number of senior doctors from renowned hospitals, is expected to submit the report next week.
Former president of the Indian Youth Congress M.S Bitta, who was the target of the 1993 blast that Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar is accused of carrying out, on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's refusal to commute his death penalty sentence to life imprisonment, and added that he would work to ensure it was carried out.
Apparently pained at politics over the execution of death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, All India Anti-Terrorist Front Chairman M S Bitta on Tuesday criticised the Punjab Congress unit for backing the demand for commuting the sentence. "I am mentally tortured by the Congress and central intelligence agencies for the past 18 years. I have completely failed to face political terrorism in the country," Bitta said.
The Delhi government has decided to refer to the Union home ministry a decision on the execution of death row convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar following a medical board report that he is under severe mental depression.
The 1993 Delhi bomb blast case convict Prof Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar was on Friday shifted to Amritsar Central Jail from Delhi's Tihar Jail.
Following the hanging of Afzal Guru, Congress MP and grandson of late former Chief Minister Beant Singh, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Monday demanded the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, the convict on death row for assassinating Beant Singh.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a commitment to the Sikh community on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019 that the sentence of all Sikh detainees serving life sentences would be commuted and that the death sentence of Bhai Rajoana would be commuted to life.'
There are clear signs that the party is re-starting its journey to relevance by going back to its core Panthic agenda, on the basis of which it was founded over a century ago, reports Sai Manish.
If we accept that there is a challenge in Punjab today, any realistic progress can only be made if the rest of the country, especially the government and the ruling party, engage with this sense of grievance, points out Shekhar Gupta
'The target for all our counter-terror operations ought to be Pakistani Punjab's population,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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