Patiala: As the SGPC and Punjab Government
pitched for a pardon for him, Balwant Singh Rajoana, who has
been convicted for the assassination of former Chief Minister
Beant Singh, today described Akali leaders as "cheaters" and
asked them not to seek clemency for him.
In his latest letter released to Sikhs from the Central
Jail here, he said, "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."
The copies of the letter were distributed by his foster
sister Kamaldeep Kaur outside the Central Jail where he is
lodged.
Rajoana also wrote that Akali leaders failed to secure
justice from Delhi for innocent Sikhs and should not now throw
their turbans before Delhi to seek clemency for him.
"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," said Rajoana.
About support being offered by Beant Singh's family
members and Amarinder Singh, Rajoana said, "Didn't want to
seek any help from them, who are the representatives of
killers".
The special CBI court in Chandigarh had awarded death
sentence to Rajoana and Jagtar Singh Hawara in the Beant Singh
assassination case on August 1, 2007. Three others --
Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh -- were
sentenced to life imprisonment for hatching the conspiracy to
kill Beant Singh.
Rajoana did not appeal against the judgement nor has
he filed any mercy petition. The death penalty of Hawara, who
filed an appeal against it, was commuted to life sentence.
On August 31, 1995, as Beant Singh stepped out of his
office at the high-security Punjab civil secretariat in
Chandigarh, a suicide bomber Dilawar Singh blew himself up,
killing the then Chief Minister and 17 others. Rajoana was the
second human bomb to be used in case Dilawar had failed in his
mission.
SGPC, the apex religious body of Sikhs, yesterday sent a
mercy petition to the President seeking clemency for death row
convict Balwant Singh Rajoana even as Punjab Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal said he would soon meet Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in this regard.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 10:44