Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and, in what is considered to be rare, sought ten-day parole for Jagtar Singh Hawara, a convict in the former Punjab CM Beant Singh assassination case.
Mann later said he is hopeful that Hawara would be granted parole.
After meeting Kataria, Mann said that the governor had assured him that he would speak to the Union Home Secretary in this regard and added that he had assured him there would be no law-and-order problem in the state when Hawara comes out on parole.
"I have assured the Governor that there would be no law and order problem in the state when Hawara comes out on parole. There would not be any sloganeering or ruckus, after the same assurance has been given to me by associates of Hawara and Sikh organisations associated with his family,” he said
Mann, added that the Governor told him that he would send all relevant papers to the Home Secretary as soon as possible.
Mann further said that the family of Hawara is seeking parole for him only on humanitarian ground as Hawara’s mother is old and aging. Besides the family says that though she is very feeble, she responds when Hawara’s name is taken in front of her.
"For 31 years, a mother has been waiting for her son,” he added.
A few days back Mann wrote to Kataria citing the petition filed by Hawara before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking parole, as well as the court’s reported directions to consider his application.
Former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, who is now heading Akali Dal (Punar Surjit), has written to Union home minister Amit Shah, seeking the Centre’s intervention for expeditious action on Hawara’s parole and similar relief for other ``Bandi Singhs ‘’ and had stated that for Panthic politics to move forward, 35 per cent of tickets should be given to relatives of families whose members laid down their lives defending the Sikh faith (shaheed parivaar).
Developments such as these comes against the backdrop of surge in the activities of Panthic organisations.
Sources noted that the political challenge for the AAP, ahead of next year's assembly polls, is not simply to retain its existing vote share but also to prevent the emergence of a consolidated Panthic alternative that could eat into its rural and Sikh vote base.
It may be mentioned that Hawara enjoys support among sections of the Sikh community because he was appointed parallel acting Jathedar of the Akal Takht by the 2015 Sarbat Khalsa.
Also if the BJP-led central government rejects the request, then AAP can argue that it supported parole, but the saffron party did not. If the request is accepted, AAP can still claim that its intervention helped move the case forward. Politically, it is therefore a relatively low-risk move with potential gains for the Mann government.
