**We Honour Bhai Balwant Singh Ji Who Has Been Sentenced To Death For Helping To Eliminate Beant'a Paapi Killer Of Sikhs,Bhai Balwant Singh A True Marjeevrah & Shaheed In Waiting,Sikh Diamonds Such As Bhai Balwant Singh & Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara Who Has Been Sentenced To Life Till Death,Keep ...The Flame Of Freedom & The Sikh Spirit Alive - Dal Khalsa Salutes These Two Diamonds Of Our Nation KHALISTAN ZINDABAD!!!!**
The verdict on Jagtar Singh Hawara is a mixture of relief and grief
Punjab Newsline Network
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Jagtar Singh Hawara has escaped the gallows, but it is death for Balwant Singh in the Beant Singh assassination case.
A Babbar Khalsa International activist, Hawara has been branded as an “organiser of a heinous crime”, but the death penalty awarded to him by the trial court in Punjab’s then Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case has been commuted to life sentence. He will remain behind bars till his last.
Other convicts, Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Shamsher Singh, will continue to serve life terms.
Hearing the case on near continuous basis since February, the Bench of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice Arvind Kumar clarified that Hawara “shall not be released from the prison for the rest of his life”. Hawara was merely a tool in the hands of the prime conspirators and was not even present in the city when the blast took place, are some of the factors that weighed on the court’s mind while commuting the death penalty.
On the other hand, Balwant Singh’s refusal to defend himself and his confessional statements led him to the scaffold. “Without having any evidence in favour of Balwant Singh to go into, so that we can have a second thought on the murder reference of Balwant Singh, coupled with his three confessional statements, there is no other alternative with us but to confirm the findings of the trial court qua Balwant Singh,” the Bench ruled.
The defence was represented by Baldev Singh, while SK Saxena and RK Handa appeared for the CBI.
Speaking for the Bench, Justice Gill asserted: “Hawara, though part of the bigger conspiracy to eliminate the former Chief Minister, kept himself outside the main action. As rightly argued by the counsel for the CBI, he was a tool in the hands of Mehal Singh and Wadhawa Singh (proclaimed offenders), who were guiding him from Pakistan. Hawara, it comes out, was an active member of the conspiracy like Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh, who have been awarded life sentence.”
Justice Gill observed: “There is no evidence on record of the whereabouts of Hawara on August 31, 1995, (the assassination day) and as to where he was after 2.30 pm on August 30, 1995, or where did he go. The only inference we can make is that his not being present on August 30, 1995, or August 31, 1995, anywhere near the secretariat or near Chandigarh is that he did not want to be part of execution of the assassination of the former Chief Minister.”
In the judgment running into 180 pages, Justice Gill added: “It is the case of the prosecution that the conspiracy to assassinate the former CM was hatched in Pakistan between Mehal Singh, Wadhawa Singh and Hawara.
“Apart from the prosecution saying so, there is no evidence on record to substantiate this. Nothing is on record as to when did Hawara go to Pakistan and when did he come back.
“The case of Hawara does not fall within the parameters of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Machhi Singh versus State of Punjab. But we are conscious of the fact that a gruesome murder of the former Chief Minister, along with 16 others, had taken place and Hawara was the organiser of the heinous crime…. The case of Hawara is a borderline case for death sentence to be awarded.”
Balwant Singh has kept his promise made to his “human bomb” friend Dilawar Singh by deciding not to defend himself in the Beant Singh assassination case. The verdict in the case could have been different had Balwant Singh defended himself. But his three confessional statements and no evidence in his favour prevented the Punjab and Haryana High Court from having “a second thought” on the death sentence awarded to him by the trial court.
Apparently, Balwant Singh wanted the high court to order his hanging, as just before the assassination he had promised Dilawar Singh that he would not defend himself. But this is just one bizarre fact of the intriguing tale.
You may dismiss it as “too strange to be true”, but for deciding who would become the human bomb for eliminating the then Chief Minister, Dilawar Singh and Balwant Singh flipped a coin. Dilawar Singh won the fatal toss and agreed to lose his life. Balwant Singh then tied explosives around Dilawar.
Before triggering off the blast, he asked co-conspirator Balwant Singh to confess his hand, which he has done in less than four years after the assassination.
The “perfectly planned” operation went kaput after the conspirators failed to retrieve the car. It could have gone unnoticed, but for fate and strange hand of nature.
Soon after the blast, two cops on duty felt the urge to smoke away from the public glare. In their anxiety, they hopped into an open Ambassador car. Little did they know it was the one used by the assassins.
They discovered that the interiors of the car were grey, while the exterior was white. Curious, they opened the glove compartment and found bits of evidence inside.
Later, they came to know the car was used to reach the spot. While the assassins managed to get the vehicle painted “Franko white” for matching the colour of government-owned cars to make access to the secretariat easy, the moisture in the air due to rains prevented them from getting the car touched from inside.
This is not all. Talk to the investigators, witnesses and even assassins; and they tell you strange tales of intrigue, conspiracy and coincidences, which even a master of macabre could not weave so dexterously. Some of the stories are not part of the court record, but have been gathered during the trial covered over a period spanning three years.
Soon after the car’s discovery, the investigators launched a massive search for the number plate painter. The lines drawn with thread dipped in blue (neel) for aligning the letters and digits on the plate indicated that it had been painted freshly. The search took them to Mohali.
In the meantime, car painter-cum-prime witness Surinder Sharma saw the snaps of the vehicle flashed in all newspapers. Apprehensive, he was still contemplating future course of action when a cop arrived for the replacement of his bike’s clutch wire. His presence made him jittery. Thinking that the cops had discovered the truth, he spoke out everything.
India Calls Him Murderer, He Gives Life
Balwant Singh Rajoana shames death sentence
Panth and Humanity sole claimants to my body after death;
donates eyes to Huzuri Ragi of Darbar Sahib, Amritsar
Jagmohan Singh
BURAIL (CHANDIGARH): Every time, Kamaldeep Kaur looks into her brother’s eyes, she knows such occasions will be few and far between. Balwant Singh Rajoana is on the death row, convicted in Beant Singh murder case. But such is his worldview that perhaps Kamaldeep may long have to live with those eyes. Long after Balwant Singh hangs to the utter shame of Indian justice system.
Rajoana’s Eyes. Eyes that have seen untold atrocities against the Sikhs, eyes that have seen the machinations of hegemonic brahaminical forces trying to annihilate as well as assimilate the Sikhs, eyes that have rarely dropped a tear, eyes that have always gleamed with pride in the service of the Guru.
Rajoana’s eyes. Eyes that will now shame even death. In the presence of his sister, brother-in-law, nephew and the Deputy Superintendent of Model Jail, Chandigarh, (where he is lodged), Balwant Singh Rajoana has signed his Will, donating his eyes to the blind Hazuri Ragi Singh of Darbar Sahib Harmandar Sahib, Bhai Lakhwinder Singh, on 17 June 2008. The original Will
It was not a spur of the moment decision. Rajoana, in fact, first wrote to the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib on June 5, explaining his wish. This was followed by calls from personal attendant of the Jathedar to the Deputy Superintendent of Jail, and thus he was granted permission by the jail authorities.
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In his hand-written letter, sent to the Jathedar through the prison authorities, Balwant Singh Rajoana said: “As you are aware, I have been sentenced to death by an Indian court in the Beant Singh assassination case. I have decided not to appeal against this order and not to submit before this system.”
He said while he was waiting for his final call from the government of India, he desired that “after my death, the vital organs of my body (eyes, kidneys, heart and any other part that may be useful to any other person) may be offered at Sri Akal Takht Sahib to be given to those who may need them.” The idea was that the organs could be donated to anyone as per the wishes of the Sikh community. Rajoana had in fact made it clear right at the time of his conviction that his body shall be donated.
Explaining himself, he said that while watching the Kirtan programme on television, the sight of a blind Hazuri Ragi inspired him to offer his eyes, so that, “even after my death, (through the Ragi Singh) my eyes continue to worship at holy Darbar Sahib.”
Speaking to the World Sikh News, Kamaldeep Kaur, the sister of Balwant Singh, informed that the will was signed in her presence. Her husband Baljit Singh, her son Ajaideep Singh and Mr. Randhawa, the jail deputy superintendent were also witness to the document.
In his communiqué to the Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh, he has said that “every single part of my body” that could be of any use to anyone in the service of the Panth and humanity could be used accordingly.
| | Dying is no act of bravado, to be prepared to die for one’s convictions is bravado par excellence. No university could have educated Kamaldeep Kaur about this great truth, but Rajoana’s life has. “Many people think that my brother wants to die. No. Like all living things he also wants to live, but he does not want to cringe, he does not want to dither from his Ardas, he does not want to love life at the cost of his courage and the cause of the Khalsa Panth.” |
One only wonders how many sisters who tie rakhi around their brother’s wrist across India can actually understand what Kamaldeep must be passing through. Or perhaps every single one of them will understand, if only the Sikh community ensures that the story of Rajoana’s Eyes be spread and propagated all across the globe.
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“By this act, I think my brother will bring more respect to the Sikh community.” There is no end to beautiful, heart-wrenching poetry about eyes, the beauty of eyes, the power of eyes, eyes full of tears, eyes that laugh, eyes that move hearts. But the saga of Rajoana’s Eyes will remain perhaps unmatched, for which poet has ever written about the power of eyes of a man condemned to death? Rajoana does not want to shut his eyes to his Guru, to his brave Sikh nation, to the machinations of its enemies, to the great ideal of Sarbat Da Bhala.
Beant Singh’s eyes were always covered with trademark black-tinted glasses, even during broad daylight. Those were eyes that could not handle shame, for more were dying under Beant Singh’s jackboots than a human heart could bear to see. Now, Rajoana’s Eyes will ensure that the line between a life spent in Guru’s sewa and a death courted for one’s principles shall stand merged.
Even the most ungrateful would hold him in awe and respect.
Rajoana’s seven-year-old nephew, Ajaydeep Singh, was told about the reasons for which Rajoana was in prison, the contents of his will of June 17 and the possibility of him climbing the scaffolding ladder with a noose around his neck. “Tell Mamaji, I will never forget him. I will remember him for all my life.” Little kid of the Sikh Nation, you will not be alone. Rajoana’s Eyes will see that the Sikh Nation will never forget him. And the story of Rajoana’s Eyes will live on long after those eyes stop shining.
