Chandigarh:
Former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh's assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana has hit out at Punjab's ruling party - the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). In a letter sent to the media through his sister Kamaljeet Kaur, he has described the party's leaders as "cheaters" and has termed their attempt to seek clemency for him as "pure politics".
"I don't need any help from blue-turbaned Akali leaders who have not done anything so far to secure justice for Sikhs. Akali leaders have started speaking up now as they fear that if they don't, they will lose their support. Their attempt to secure clemency for me is pure politics," he has said in the letter.
"Akalis are trying to secure sympathy for me from Delhi with folded hands. But history would never forgive them for their failure to secure justice for Sikhs," he added.
Mr Rajoana was sentenced to death in 2007 by a special CBI court in Chandigarh for his role in the assassination of the former Punjab Chief Minister in 1995. As per a court order, he was scheduled to be hanged in Patiala Central Jail on Saturday. But in the state assembly yesterday, Punjab Chief Minister and SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal said that his government will not hang him on the slated day.
The Chief Minister also said that he would soon meet the President and the Prime Minister to seek clemency for Mr Rajoana. "All legal options will be explored by my government in this regard. Our steps will ensure peaceful atmosphere in the state," he had added.
Speaking about the support being offered by Beant Singh's family members, Mr Rajoana said in his letter, "I don't need the sympathy of the BJP, the Congress or Beant Singh's kin."
Beant Singh was the Chief Minister of Punjab from 1992 to 1995. He was largely credited with wiping out terrorism from Punjab. He was assassinated by a human bomb, Dilawar Singh, at the high security Punjab civil secretariat in Chandigarh in August 1995. Mr Rajoana was to serve as a back-up human bomb.
Yesterday, the Shiromani Gurdwara Pharbandhak Committee or the SGPC, which functions as a parliament of Sikhs, sent a mercy petition to President Pratibha Patil. It reportedly cites 11 other similar cases where the death sentence was commuted.
The Sikh clergy has said that the state government must fight to save Mr Rajoana. The Akal Takht, which is the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, has conferred the title of zinda shaheed or living martyr conferred on him by Sikh high priests. Mr Rajoana has said he does not want this title. (With Inputs from PTI)