AMRITSAR: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has urged the Supreme Court to exercise its Constitutional authority to stop torture of Sikh pensioners in Bikaner jail of Rajasthan and secure their release. Mr. Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Mr. Manjit Singh Calcutta, SGPC president and secretary timely, in a press statement here, alleged that Sikh prisoners in Bikaner jail were being. Treated inhumanly. They said that hundreds of Sikhs were lodged in Rajasthan jails under false cases for the last more than 10 years. In many cases the trial of prisoners had not yet started. Incidents of torture on Sikhs had come to light in an inquiry conducted by the Rajasthan Lok Yakutat which revealed that six prisoners had died due to torture and several others wore in a critical condition.
The SGPC authorities said that the Lok Yakutat, Justice Mohendar Bhushan, had revealed that during the last six years, there had been gross violation of human rights in Rajasthan jails. The Lok Yakutat has recommended to the stale government that action be taken against jail authorities and ‘the jail doctor for torturing the prisoners and tampering with medical records but no action has been taken so far. The SGPC said that the inquiry report had made sensational revelations. Those mustaches of Sikh prisoners were trimmed and their faces blackened and they were made to parade naked in the jail. Last year, a prisoner, Lakhwinder Singh and Sandhu Singh had dict but the jail authorities had lied to amps with the record of their deaths. ‘The SGPC leaders said that the Supreme Court had aee a significant tola in restoring faith of people in democracy. They said that it should now intervene to secure the release of Bikaner prisoners to restore the faith of Sikhs in the democratic system.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 31, 1996
