SUKH Dhaliwal, MP for Surrey-Newton, has submitted a petition seeking the release of Delhi University lecturer Prof. G.N. Saibaba in the House of Commons.
Signed by 500 residents of B.C., the petition was launched by Radical Desi that said in a press release that Dhaliwal is the only Liberal MP so far who has taken an interest in the case. He had also submitted a petition seeking justice for the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh violence in the past and has been consistently raising his voice for human rights.
The petition that was drafted by community activist and lawyer Amandeep Singh asks for the intervention of the Canadian
government in getting the disabled professor released. Saibaba was given a life sentence after being accused of being a supporter of Maoist insurgents. A wheelchair-bound Saibaba is being persecuted for opposing state repression on tribal people and other marginalized sections of the Indian society.
The Radical Desi team also submitted a letter to the Minister Responsible for People with Disabilities Carla Quoltrough asking for her intervention in the case on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The letter was signed by 100 residents in her riding. The minister’s staff has been very cooperative and listened to the case of Saibaba carefully.
Among other groups that supported this initiative were Chetna Association, Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar and Gurdwara Sukh Sagar Sahib and several members of the Ross Street Sikh temple in Vancouver, according to the press release.