A decades-old wound in Punjab politics was brought to the table on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, when Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann held a significant meeting with a four-member committee formed by the Bandi Singh Insaaf Morcha — an organisation demanding the release of Sikh prisoners who have served their full sentences yet remain behind bars. Mann listened, he promised, and he drew a sharp line between his government and those that came before.

The committee that sat across from the Chief Minister comprised S. Gurdeep Singh Bathinda, Advocate Jaspal Singh Manjhpur, S. Pal Singh France, and S. Balwinder Pal Singh. Mann wrote on X that he 'listened very carefully' to the committee's views and appeals on the matter of releasing the Bandi Singhs — Sikh detainees, many of them convicted in cases linked to the militancy era of the 1980s and 1990s, whose continued imprisonment has long been a source of grief and grievance in sections of the Sikh community.

The Assurance Mann Put on Record

The Chief Minister was explicit in his post: the Punjab government is committed to finding an appropriate resolution to this issue at the earliest. He assured the committee that steps which were 'reasonable and legal' — but left untaken by previous governments for years — will now be pursued on a priority basis. The closing salvo, Inquilab Zindabad (Long live the revolution), was pointed: this was not a routine bureaucratic meeting but a political statement of intent.

What Previous Governments Left Undone

The Bandi Singh issue has outlasted multiple administrations in Punjab — Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal, and BJP-led — without a lasting resolution. The cases are complex: many involve mercy petitions pending before the Governor of Punjab or the President of India, constitutional processes that require state government recommendation and follow-through. Critics of past governments have argued that successive administrations either lacked the political will or feared backlash when it came to formally recommending clemency.

Mann's framing — that his government will do what previous ones refused to — is as much a political jab as a policy pledge. It positions the Aam Aadmi Party government as the administration finally willing to move the legal machinery that has been stalled for years.

A Sensitive File With Constitutional Layers

Releasing long-term prisoners typically requires a formal state cabinet recommendation followed by a decision from the Governor or the President. The process is legally defined but politically charged — each such case carries the weight of victims' families, security agencies' concerns, and community sentiment. Mann's assurance of 'legal steps' suggests the government intends to work within this constitutional framework rather than bypass it, though no specific timeline or names of prisoners were mentioned in the post.

The Bandi Singh Insaaf Morcha has been a persistent voice on this issue, and Tuesday's meeting — with photographs shared publicly — signals that the Chief Minister is treating the matter as one requiring visible political engagement, not just bureaucratic handling. Whether that translates into tangible movement on pending mercy petitions will be the real test.