JALANDHAR: Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal demanded a review of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in a post on Twitter on Thursday, but the use of the stringent anti-terror law was not uncommon when Sukhbir himself was the deputy CM of Punjab during the SAD-BJP government’s rule in the state from 2007 to 2017.
Sukhbir’s tweet, calling for a review of UAPA and AFSPA, came a day after he participated in a meeting organised by Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on the issue of Sikhs political prisoners who are behind bars even after serving their jail terms. Just after the SAD-BJP alliance came to power in 2007, SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann became the first political leader to be booked for sedition in May 2007. Later, organisers of Sarbat Khalsa 2015 were also booked under the same provision in November that year.
