Jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid are set to take their oaths as Lok Sabha members on Friday, under specific conditions outlined in their parole orders.
Rashid, widely known as Engineer Rashid, is currently held in Delhi’s Tihar jail in connection with a terror funding case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Amritpal Singh is incarcerated in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, facing charges under the National Security Act.
Despite their imprisonment, Singh, 31, and Rashid, 56, won recent Lok Sabha elections as independent candidates from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, respectively. They were unable to take their oaths alongside other winning candidates on June 24 and 25.
Rashid has been granted a two-hour custody parole to travel from Tihar to Parliament and back, while Singh has received a four-day custody parole starting July 5 to accommodate his travel from Assam to Delhi and back. During their parole, they are prohibited from speaking to or addressing the media or making any statements. Additionally, their family members are also restricted from making any statements to the media.
While Amritpal Singh, a Khalistani sympathizer and leader of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, is allowed to meet his family in Delhi, Rashid’s family can only attend his oath-taking.
Rashid, in jail since 2019 following his 2017 arrest, received his parole from a Delhi court. Singh’s parole was granted by the Amritsar district magistrate after his April 2023 arrest for storming a police station and clashing with officers to free an aide.
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Both Singh and Rashid will be accompanied by security personnel at all times during their parole periods. Singh will “not enter the territorial jurisdiction of any place other than New Delhi during the period of temporary release”, his parole order stated.
“Amritpal Singh or any of his relatives shall not be permitted to videograph any statement of Amritpal and/or circulate any such statement in any electronic form,” according to the order.
The Delhi Police and Punjab Police have been directed to coordinate with the secretary general of the Lok Sabha for procedures inside the Parliament complex. Rashid, a former MLA, was implicated during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in Kashmir.
The NIA filed charges against several individuals, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. Malik received a life sentence in 2022 after pleading guilty.
Singh, who models himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, is jailed with nine associates under the National Security Act.
Meanwhile, TMC’s Shatrughan Sinha is yet to be sworn in as a member of the Lower House of the Parliament.