Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday rejected allegations of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) being anti-national, adding that that his party was seeking the release of those convicts who have already served their prison terms.
"The SAD has always fought for Punjab and the nation. I am surprised how we are being branded as anti-nationalists," Badal told the media.
"We are not talking about people who have not served their term. A wrong impression has been created in the media... There are a lot of people who have served 25-30 years and they have not been released. There are people who are 90-years-old, some are blind and on humanitarian grounds we are asking...," he added.
According to reports, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had last week written to his counterparts in five other states, seeking release of 13 assassins of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have strongly condemned this move by the SAD.