Students take out procession in support of Sidhu, would launch an SMS campaign

Monday, December 04, 2006

Source: IANS

Chandigarh: Over 100 students took out a silent candlelight procession in the city to support cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was convicted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday for causing the death of a person in a road rage case.

The youths, who took out the procession at the city's famous landmark - Sukhna Lake, said they would launch an SMS campaign to garner support for Sidhu on Monday.

"He has been successful as a cricketer and now as a politician. We need clean people like him. The Patiala incident was an unintentional aberration and he should not be treated like a criminal for that," said Ajmer Singh.

Others in the procession said Sidhu had displayed rare character by immediately resigning from his Lok Sabha seat after his conviction by the High Court.

Sidhu had on Saturday resigned as Lok Sabha MP.

The High Court here will commence hearing on Wednesday for announcing the quantum of his sentence.

Sidhu has been charged of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and could face up to 10 years in prison.

Supporters of Sidhu in Punjab's cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala also prayed for him.

Indo-Asian News Service