Beant’S Kin May Seek Reprieve For Balwant

[Azaad]

Will the family of slain Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh forgive Balwant Singh Rajoana and appeal to the state not to hang him on March 31?

If the behind-the-scenes activities are any indication, Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib, Ravneet Singh Bittu, and his uncle and former Punjab Minister Tej Parkash Singh may issue a joint appeal to save Balwant Singh Rajoana from the gallows.

“I have been in touch with them,” says Paramjit Singh Sarna, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). “They say they respect the Sikh sentiments and may issue an appeal that Balwant Singh Rajoana may not be hanged,” says Sarna.

Efforts are also being made at other fronts to ensure the decision to hang Balwant Singh is reviewed in time.

Balwant Singh has been convicted for the assassination of Beant Singh outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat. Though execution warrants have been issued, Punjab has expressed its inability to carry out the hanging on the plea that hanging warrants have been issued by a Chandigarh court.

Sarna says once Beant’s family issues an appeal to convert the death sentence to life imprisonment, the execution of the hanging warrants may be reviewed.