Qaumi Insaaf Morcha Explained: Why are Punjab Political Parties and Farmer Unions Supporting Parole for the Man Convicted of Ex-CM Beant Singh's Assassination?

ON AUGUST 21, 2026, political and religious groups part of the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha (QIM) announced a Punjab bandh from 7 am to 2 pm as part of their three-year sit-in protest at the Chandigarh-Mohali Border. The groups are demanding the release of Bandi Singhs (sikh prisoners), a term used to refer to prisoners who, the QIM claims, have completed their life sentences and have shown good conduct. They argue that the convicts now pose no threat to society and have served their due punishment for more than three decades.

Ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections, prominent figures from political parties like Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, and Aam Aadmi Party are also attempting to sympathize with the protestors. At the least, most of them agree with the Morcha for the parole of Jagtar Singh Hawara, the man convicted of assassinating former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

What is Qaumi Insaaf Morcha?

Qaumi Insaaf Morcha, also known as National Justice Front, is a coalition of different sikh political and religious groups including families of Sikh prisoners, Nihang groups, panthic organizations, and farmer unions. While there is no official leader of the Front, the face of the protestors has been Gurcharan Singh, father of Jagtar Singh Hawara, along with public spokesperson Dilsher Singh and Balwinder Singh. The Morcha also include Tarsem Singh, father of jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, and former Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh.

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The initiative has gained support from prominent political groups and figures like Waris Punjab De leader Manpreet Singh Ayali, along with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. Local and national political parties like Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party have also shown sympathy to some of the demands of the Front. The groups part of QIM have been staging a continuos sit-in protest since January 7, 2023, on Chandigarh-Mohali border near YPS Chowk, Sector 52-53.

On August 15, 2026, the Morcha announced they would march from YPS Chowk, Mohali to the Punjab Governor's residence in Chandigarh. However, they were stopped at the border by the Chandigarh police through barricades, tear gas, and water canons. The front responded by declaring Punjab Bandh on August 21 to make the government notice their demands.

Who are Bandi Singhs?

Political and religious groups part of QIM call the prisoners, who they claim, have served their intended life sentences as Bandi Singhs (Sikh Prisoners). The front alleges that the extended incarceration of these convicts are politically motivated, terming them as “political prisoners.”

The prisoners list include some high profile names from the community including Jagtar Singh Hawara— convict in the 1995 assassination of the former Punjab CM Beant Singh, serving life sentence; Balwant Singh Rajoana— another convict in the Beant Singh case, on death-row but pending final sentence due to mercy petitions; Devinderpal Singh Bhullar— convicted in 1993 Delhi blast case; and Gurdeep Singh Khera— convicted Khalistani terrorist serving life sentence.

While the official sentence of these convicts began from late 2000s to early 2010s, the Qaumi Insaaf Morcha argue they were already in judicial custody long before the. formal punishment. The QIM spokespersons, including advocates, claim that these prisoners have served their life sentence and do not pose any major threat to society in their old age.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Shiromani Akali Dal, and even Congress— the party Beant Singh was from— at some level show sympathy with the protestors. Beant Singh’s own grandson, Ravneet Singh Bittu, a BJP leader, has also joined these voices asking for Hawara’s parole. However, all the parties maintain that the parole should only be on humanitarian grounds.

CM Mann recently had a meeting with the Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria in Chandigarh and recommended at least a 10-day parole of the murder convict. He suggested the parole under humanitarian grounds so that Hawara can visit his ailing mother, who he has reportedly not seen for more than three decades. 

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Who is Jagtar Singh Hawara?

Jagtar Singh Hawara, born on May 17, 1970, in Hawara village of Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib district, is a senior member of the banned separatist organization Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). He is serving a life sentence for his role in the conspiracy behind the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh.

A special CBI court had sentenced Hawara to death in July 2007. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court later commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment “till death” in October 2010. He is currently lodged in Delhi’s Mandoli Jail and is considered a high-risk prisoner.

Hawara’s alleged links with militancy reportedly began when he was still a teenager. According to police and investigative accounts, he joined Babbar Khalsa around 1987, when he was about 16 years old. He is also reported to have travelled to Pakistan for training in handling weapons and explosives before returning to Punjab and becoming active in the Ropar area during the early 1990s.

Investigators have linked Hawara to the recruitment and motivation of young men for militant activities. One of those linked to him was Dilawar Singh Babbar, the suicide bomber who carried out the August 31, 1995 assassination of Beant Singh outside the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. According to reports the blast killed Beant Singh and 16 others.

On the intervening night of January 21 and 22, 2004, Hawara escaped from the high-security Burail Model Jail in Chandigarh along with fellow accused Jagtar Singh Tara, Paramjit Singh Bheora and another inmate.

The prisoners reportedly dug a nearly 90–100-foot-long tunnel from inside their cell, passing underneath multiple security walls. What makes the escape particularly dramatic was that it was carried out using basic and improvised tools, allowing the prisoners to break out of a high-security jail without being detected immediately.

Hawara remained on the run for more than a year before Delhi Police arrested him in June 2005 during investigations into cinema bomb blast cases.

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