Cong questions move to shift ultra Bhullar
Friday, 12/06/2015
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=132943&boxid=58026&uid=&dat=2015-06-12
Chandigarh : Questioning the state government’s what it alleged ‘change in stand’ on reports of shifting 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Devinderpal Singh Bhullar from Delhi’s Tihar jail to Amritsar jail, the main opposition Congress party has questioned the timing of the move. It said the state government had earlier filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court where it was stated that “bringing Bhullar back could create law and order problem and disturb peace in Punjab.” Maintaining that his party had no problem with any prisoner being shifted from one place to the other under the ambit of law, Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa questioned the “shift of stand of the government as per its convenience.”
Reacting to the reports pertaining to the transfer of Sikh militants lodged in various jails across the country, including Bhullar to Punjab, Bajwa said: “Eight years back, Punjab government had given an affidavit in the Supreme Court, maintaining that if Devinderpal Singh Bhullar is shifted to Punjab, it could create law and order situation in the state and disturb peace. I want to ask Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal why have they shifted their stand and chose this time now. According to their convenience, they keep shifting stand. This government should give an answer to the people of Punjab and also to the Bhullar family.”
He alleged that the government wanted to go back to fundamentalist issues having failed to deliver on all fronts. “Knowing they will bite dust in next year’s elections, they are creating circumstances to part company with their alliance partner BJP by trying to polarise the voters. They are desperate to win over the hardliners and by seeking to raise their issues, they want to sort of win them over for their vested political interests,” he further alleged. The September 1993 bomb blast in New Delhi killed nine persons and left 25 others injured, including the then Youth Congress president M S Bitta.
However, officials have remained tight-lipped over reports that Punjab Government has processed cases of transferring Sikh militants to prisons in the state. Punjab Chief Minister in December last year had sought the personal intervention of Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung for the release of Bhullar, saying that the Supreme Court had already commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment and he had already completed 20 years of imprisonment.
Don’t take chance in moving Bhullar to state jail: Bitta
Chandigarh: Criticising Punjab government’s reported move to shift 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Bhullar to Amritsar jail, chairman of All India Anti-terrorist Front M S Bitta on Thursday said that he feels defeated by the country’s “political terrorism.” He also appealed the state and the Centre to not take any chance in shifting people like Bhullar to Punjab where many of his sympathisers and hardliners exist. Former president of the Indian Youth Congress Bitta said: “I survived 14 terror attacks and even faced the bullets bravely, but today I feel defeated by political terrorism which exists in our system.”
“Now, there are reports that Bhullar is being shifted from Tihar jail to jail in Amritsar, a border town which is close to international border with Pakistan. If this is done, it will not be a wise step. Last year, the Delhi government had pleaded with the Supreme Court to commute death sentence of terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar to life imprisonment on the ground of his mental illness,” he said.
The Congress leader also cited example of a sensational escape made by Babbar Khalsa militant Jagtar Singh Hawara, who was convicted for life in assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, from the high-security Burail jail in Chandigarh over a decade back by digging a tunnel. “The governments should not take any chance in shifting people like Bhullar, that too to a place like Amritsar, where many hardliners and their sympathisers exist,” he said.
