SGPC Completes Signature Campaign to Get Sikh Prisoners Released

In the case of Punjab, there is hardly any attempt by the SGPC or any other Sikh organization to approach the international forums to get Sikh prisoners released.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has intensified its campaign to get Sikh political prisoners released from jails.

Starting the signature campaign for release of Sikh prisoners at Sri Amritsar on December 1, 2022, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami and members Photo: SGPC

In a statement tweeted on April 22, 2023, SGPC said that nearly 25 lakh people participated in its signature campaign for the release of Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners) lodged in different Indian jails even after completing their sentences.

The statement added that the proformas filled under this campaign will be handed over to the Governor of Punjab Banwari Lal Purohit on April 27. While the SGPC did not include the list of Sikh prisoners in its statement, a tentative list of 85 Sikh political prisoners is available on the internet. These prisoners were jailed for committing various crimes as part of their political activities and some of them are in jails for more than 25 years.

According to reports, various Sikh groups have been protesting on the Chandigarh-Punjab border since January 2023 to get Sikh prisoners released from jails.

As authoritarianism is spreading in all parts of the world, the authoritarian regimes in countries such as Belarus, China, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Russia have imprisoned thousands of their political opponents.

Despite international pressure, the despotic governments do not release political prisoners. In December 2022, for example, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution for the release of prisoners in Myanmar. But they were not released.

In the case of Punjab, there is hardly any attempt by the SGPC or any other Sikh organization to approach the international forums to get Sikh prisoners released.

SGPC secretary Partap Singh said in the statement that a four-member delegation led by SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami will meet the Governor Banwari Lal Purohit. The other three members of the SGPC delegation include SGPC senior vice-president Baldev Singh Qaimpur, junior vice-president Avtar Singh Raya, and general secretary Bhai Gurcharan Singh Grewal.

The SGPC secretary said that before proceeding to the Governor house, a Panthic (community) gathering will be held to offer Ardas (Sikh prayer) at Sri Akal Takht Sahib at 7 am. In this Panthic meeting, Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib Giani

Harpreet Singh, Jathedar of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib Giani Raghbir Singh, head granthi of Sachkhand Sri Harmandar Sahib Giani Jagtar Singh, SGPC president

Harjinder Singh Dhami and heads of various Sikh organizations including all SGPC office-bearers and members were expected to participate.

Will Wrestlers Get Justice in Sexual Harassment Case Against BJP Leader?

You can safely conclude that the wrestlers’ protest will go futile and they should be prepared to face more injustice in today’s India.

Top Indian wrestlers have refused to pause their protest against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who is facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment involving women wrestlers.

Will Wrestlers Get Justice in Sexual Harassment Case Against BJP Leader?

Brij Bhushan - who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi - is alleged to be a wild predator who has tried his dirty hands on most female athletes including minors. He denies allegations. As Modi and BJP were trying to protect Brij Bhushan, the police were not filing a case against him. While wrestlers have been protesting for the past few days in Delhi, they also approached the Supreme Court to get Brij Bhushan punished.

After the Supreme Court intervention, Delhi Police - which works like a mercenary private militia of the Modi regime - agreed on April 28 to file an FIR (first information report) against the accused Brij Bhushan.

However, Delhi Police’s reputation is so bad that the wrestlers said they have no trust in this police and decided to continue their protest until Brij Bhushan is arrested and removed from his position at the WFI.

But the wrestlers should know that even a jail term for Brij Bhushan will not be sufficient. These days, top politicians enjoy all luxuries - including full-body massage in jails - and keep moving out of jails at their will.

According to reports, Brij Bhushan has 40 criminal cases filed against him. Therefore, it will not be easy to keep him in jail and Modi’s BJP - which has special liking for people with criminal records - is not expected to remove him from any position.

Earlier, despite a massive protest by farmers, Modi did not remove another BJP leader Ajay Mishra, a Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. Ajay Mishra is accused of a conspiracy to murder a few protesting farmers in 2021 at Lakhimpur Kheri in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) state.

And even if Brij Bhushan is jailed, the Modi government will soon release him as it had released last year the Bilkis Bano case convicts who were jailed for the rape and murder of innocent people.

So, the protesting wrestlers - including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang

Punia - should not expect any justice in the current regime. Rather, all sports persons should never hobnob with politicians when they win laurels for the country because most politicians are crooks. If these aggrieved wrestlers have any doubt and want to know more about the extreme lawlessness in India, they should watch the recent BBC documentary: India: The Modi Question.

So, you can safely conclude that the wrestlers’ protest will go futile and they should be prepared to face more injustice in today’s India.

About the Editor

The editor of The Unrest news magazine Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).

Nowadays, for the past 12 years, he has been running his own global news services on multiple news sites. He runs various environment protection, education awareness, and anti-corruption campaigns, and publishes digital magazines and research reports on different subjects. Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

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At present, Rakesh is associated with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project as a Country Expert for India to provide expert research inputs on multiple topics pertaining to democracy and governance. The V-Dem Project is managed by V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

In order to inform the Indian citizens and the global community about the extent of corruption in India, he compiled and released in October 2022 a comprehensive report on corruption in the country. Under the title “India Corruption Research

Report 2022 (ICRR 2022),” the research report covers diverse aspects of corruption in India. He has also been publishing The Integrity Bulletin news magazine since 2018 to cover local and international corruption issues to engage with different stakeholders who are trying to combat corruption in the world. He has also announced the new project for 2023 to compile the India Corruption Research Report 2023 (ICRR 2023). You can click here to know about the project and support it financially with your donations.

He has launched a nationwide campaign to introduce social democracy in India in order to build an egalitarian society in which all citizens could enjoy equal rights, opportunities, freedoms, and access to justice. He is running an editorial section / microsite “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” to cover the election news, events, and political campaigns.

He is also running a nationwide campaign to save school students of India from directionless education so that students could acquire modern skills that can help them in the job market. In his anti-corruption activities, he participated in a global petition led by Germany-based international organization Transparency International to call for the UN General Assembly Special Session against Corruption, UNGASS 2021, to direct all countries to set up central, public registers of beneficial ownership.

He runs a community-driven anti-corruption social service “Clean House” to help the residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice in housing societies where millions of people suffer because of rampant corruption and lawlessness. He has also formed an environment protection group called Green Group in New Delhi, which is the most polluted national capital in the world.

As Rakesh has been facing constant threats including death threats for his editorial and anti-corruption work, the Paris-based international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that defends freedom of journalists has urged the Indian