Amritsar, Dec 3 (PTI) The SGPC has appealed to Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in former Punjab CM Beant Singh's assassination case, not to go on a hunger strike to seek withdrawal of his mercy petition filed by the apex religious body of Sikhs.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) had filed the petition keeping "Panthic" sentiments in mind and it is not in the interest of the community to withdraw it, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said.

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Rajoana had written to the SGPC recently seeking withdrawal of the mercy petition, "on which 'Panthic' representatives gave their opinion that the SGPC should not withdraw the petition", he told reporters here after a special executive meeting, which was held under his leadership.

During today's executive meeting an appeal was made to Rajoana to withdraw his decision to go on a hunger strike from December 5 as "it is not right to do so as per the Gurmat (teachings of Sikh Gurus) philosophy", Dhami said.

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The mercy petition was filed in 2012 by the SGPC to the President in Rajoana's death sentence.

Rajoana, the convict in the 1995 Beant Singh assassination case, is currently lodged in the Patiala central jail.

The SGPC has been seeking the release of several Sikh prisoners, including Rajoana and Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, who is a 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)