*SAD asks UT Administration to convince Lakhwinder Singh Lakha to lift his hunger strike which has entered into seventeenth day*
Chandigarh, August 12 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today appealed to the Union territory administration as well as the central government to convince Lakhwinder Singh Lakha to lift his hunger strike demanding release of Sikh detenues which had entered the seventeenth day today.
Asserting that Lakhwinder Singh Lakha’s health was deteriorating, senior leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said if anything untoward happened to Lakhwinder Lakha, the UT administration would be held directly responsible for the same.
Dr Cheema also appealed to Lakha to end his hunger strike asserting that the SAD was doing its utmost to ensure the speedy release of the Bandi Singhs. “You have already undergone great physical and mental trauma. The entire community is with you. Please end your strike”, he said in his message to the detenue.
Dr Cheema said SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to release all Sikh detenues jailed in different prisons in the country who had already completed their life sentences on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day celebrations. “The union government had made a commitment to release the Sikh detenues when it commuted their life sentences besides commuting the death sentence of Bhai Balwant Singh Rajoana on the occasion of the 550th Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji in 2019. This commitment needs to be fulfilled”, Dr Cheema added.
