Jailed Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who were granted parole, took oath as members of India’s Lok Sabha on Friday amidst heightened security at Parliament. Singh, 31, and Rashid, 56, won seats in recent elections as Independents despite being incarcerated.
Singh, associated with the Khalistani movement and head of ‘Waris Punjab De,’ was elected from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab. Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, won from Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir.
Both were escorted to Parliament by security personnel. Rashid, held in Delhi’s Tihar jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 2019, took his oath in Kashmiri. Singh, detained in Assam’s Dibrugarh district under the National Security Act, took his oath in Punjabi.
To attend the oath-taking, Rashid was granted a two-hour parole, excluding travel time, while Singh received a four-day parole starting July 5, in view of the travel from Assam to Delhi and back. Singh will be flown to Delhi on a “military aircraft”, according to his lawyer, reports PTI.
During their release, both are barred from speaking to the media or making public statements, as per their parole orders. Rashid’s family could only attend the ceremony, while Singh was allowed to meet family members in Delhi.
The parole for Rashid was granted by a court in Delhi and that of Singh by the district magistrate of Amritsar from where he was arrested in April 2023 for barging into a police station in February and clashing with police personnel in a bid to free one of his aides from custody.
Both of them were accompanied by security personnel during the parole tenure, according to the order.
Rashid, a former MLA, came under scrutiny during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir valley.
The NIA charged several people, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in the case. Malik was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022 after pleading guilty.
Meanwhile, Singh identifies himself after the deceased Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and is detained under the National Security Act along with nine associates.