European Parliament passes resoultion against India and in support of Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar

The Sikh Federation (UK) which is recognised as the leading lobbying Sikh organisation in the UK and Europe is delighted to report that on Thursday 7 July a resolution was passed and adopted in the European Parliament in Strasbourg in support of Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar.

This followed the earlier success on 1 June when the Vice President of the European Commission, Baroness Catherine Ashton was convinced by MEPs, mainly from the UK and Germany, to write to the Indian authorities expressing the opposition of European Member States to the decision of the President of India to give the go ahead to execute Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar.

The text of the resolution that has been obtained by the Sikh Federation (UK) makes reference to United Nations General Assembly Resolutions and EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

In passing the resolution the European Parliament has also questioned India’s ability to remain on 47-nation UN Human Rights Council as India before being elected in May 2011 pledged to uphold the highest standards in terms of promoting and protecting human rights.

What will be extremely worrying to India in terms of economic ties with the EU is that the resolution specifically refers to the 1994 Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and India that made respect for human rights an essential element of the Agreement.

The resolution also refers to the circumstances surrounding the return of Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar to India from Germany.

The resolution that has been passed ‘expresses grave concern’ at the decision on the death penalty by the Government of India and refers to this ‘bucking the worldwide trend towards the abolition of capital punishment’.

The European Parliament ha urgently appealed to the Government of India not to execute Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar and to deal with his ‘case in a . . . . transparent manner’.

The Parliament has instructed its President to forward the resolution to the President, Government and Parliament of India, India’s Minister for Law and Justice, India’s Home Minister, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

Bhai Amrik Singh, the Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), said

‘this a fantastic achievement for Sikhs lobbying not only for the removal of the threat of the death penalty against Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, but also for his release as he is in his 17th year of confinement.

India would be mad to ignore European Member States and the United Nations.

We have already seen obtaining justice for Sikhs killed in November 1984 is proving impossible because the Indian authorities and the judicial system are masters at delay Our challenge is for India not to be allowed to delay making decisions on th release of Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar’.

SRC.http://punjabnewsline.com/content/european-parliament-passes-resoultion-against-india-and-support-professor-davinderpal-singh-

Bhullar mercy plea: SC issues notice to Centre

 The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi government in response to Devender Pal Bhullar's mercy plea, who has been convicted in a Delhi car bomb blast case and sentenced to death.

The apex court also clarified that there will be an automatic stay on the execution of the convict as long as the petition is in the Supreme Court.

Pleading that a mentally imbalanced person should not be executed, his wife urged the Supreme Court in June to quash his death penalty and commute it to life term.

Bhullar was sentenced to death by a designated TADA court on August 25, 2001 for his role in the September 10, 1993 bomb blast in Delhi targeting the cavalcade of then AIYC president Maninderjit Singh Bitta, who escaped with serious injuries, though nine security personnel were killed.

The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed his appeal, review and also the curative petition on March 12, 2003.

President Pratibha Patil had on May 25 rejected his mercy plea, two days after the Supreme Court sought response from the Centre and the Delhi government on the 5,700 days of delay in deciding on the plea.

src.http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bhullar-mercy-plea-sc-issues-notice-to-centre/166574-3.html

SAD (A) to hold protest in Delhi on July 11 for Prof Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by its president Simranjit Singh Mann will hold a demonstration in New Delhi on July 11 in protest against the death sentences awarded to Prof Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and Balwant Singh Rajoana (the late CM Beant Singh’s killing case).

Mann said here today his party had also sought time from Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for holding talks with him on the issue of Prof Bhullar and Rajoana and submitting a memorandum in this regard.

Mann said though CM Parkash Singh Badal and Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh were demanding that the death sentence of Bhullar and Rajoana should not be executed, the Indian National Congress and the BJP (an alliance partner of the SAD in Punjab) were in favour of it.

This was why nobody was hearing their pleas, he added.

He said the youth wing of the SAD (A) would be constituted on August 28 at Moga where the president of the wing and other office-bearers would be elected.

src.http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110709/bathinda.htm#4

Bhullar Case - SGPC submits memo to Governor

In a bid to mobilise support for Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, whose mercy petition was rejected by President Pratibha Patil last month, SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar with the support of different Sikh bodies today organised a rally at the Amb Sahib Gurdwara here before a 21-member delegation proceeded to Chandigarh to submit a memorandum to the Punjab Governor.

In the absence of the Governor, the memorandum was submitted to his secretary.

Addressing a gathering at the gurdwara, Makkar said, “In a democratic set up like India, announcing capital punishment in a case where there was no consensus among the panel of judges deciding the case reflects injustice. There was no witnesses support either against Bhullar.”

Notably, the SGPC has already decided to approach the United Nations Human Rights Commission seeking its intervention to save Bhullar.

Citing the names of terrorists (settled abroad) who were off the blacklist, Makkar alleged that the Centre was showing sympathy towards the community but at the same time not respecting the mass appeal by the community leaders in the case.

In the memorandum sent to the President through the Punjab Governor, Makkar said, it had been pointed out that when the main accused in the case had been acquitted, then sentencing Bhullar to death for helping the main accused was “total injustice”.

Upkar Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Bhullar’s mother and wife, respectively, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and other prominent Akali leaders and SGPC members were also present on the occasion.

src.http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110621/punjab.htm#16