Even as Punjabi politicians of all hues sought a reprieve for Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist Devinderpal Singh Bhullar and called upon Delhi to commute his now confirmed death sentence to a life in prison, the man who is credited with decimating and driving the seemingly indestructible Khalistanis from Punjab says “the sentence must be served.”
Former Punjab police chief Kanwar Pal Singh Gill said, “India must take a cue from the Americans in the way they doggedly pursued and eventually took out Osama bin Laden from his hideout deep inside Pakistan.”
Suggesting that the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and Punjab Congress party were only seeking a stay of execution for the KLF terrorist in view of the impending state Assembly elections, Mr Gill told this newspaper, “It is not really a question of death or life. Terrorism has plagued India and the rest of the civilised world for far too long. Bhullar’s sentence must be carried out to serve as a warning to all terror groups that they would eventually be brought to justice and be made to pay for their actions.”
Punjabi politicians, however, seem unwilling to give up their new campaign to save Bhullar from the gallows. The ruing SAD has sent a formal communication to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invoking “humanitarian and civilised concerns” and “national interest” to strongly advocate leniency for the KLF man on death row at Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
Former chief minister and state Congress chief Capt. Amarinder Singh said, “We have already paid too heavy price. Punjab lost 35,000 people to militancy and nothing can be served by killing one more man. He has been in jail for 10 years and he can be kept there for rest of his life. Personally, I have always been against capital punishment and in my opinion the matter should be reviewed.”
Caught between its vociferous demands for carrying out the hanging of Afzal Guru and the pleas for letting Bhullar live now voiced by its coalition partner (the SAD), the BJP was unwilling to take a position on the KLF terrorist either in Punjab or Delhi.
Meanwhile, the cause of all the din sits inside a condemned cell at Tihar perhaps pondering over his violent journey through life.
Once a teacher at Ludhiana’s prestigious Guru Nanak Engineering College, Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar alias “Professor” alias “Doctor” was among the founders of the Khalistan Liberation Force, alongside dreaded names like Nishan Singh Qadian, Manjinder Issi, and Harnek Bhap. Together the gang was responsible for some of the most violent and often daring terror strikes in India.
Bhullar was given the death sentence for the 1993 bomb attack on the then Indian Youth Congress president Maninderjit Bitta’s cavalcade along Delhi’s Raisina Road which killed nine people and severely injured the politician. The KLF earlier (1991) bombed the then Chandigarh SSP Sumedh Saini’s vehicles and is known to have staked out plans to assassinate both former Punjab CM Beant Singh and police chief K.P.S. Gill. Also in the 1990’s, the gang pulled off the broad daylight kidnapping of the Romanian ambassador Livu Radu from his Delhi and later also abducted former Union minister Ram Niwas Mirdha’s son.