3.5.13

Sarabjit's death angers India



Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in a Pakistan hospital on Thursday morning, succumbing to his injuries six days after being attacked by jail inmates. His body was handed over to Indian officials in Lahore and returned to Amritsar on Thursday evening.
At 1.15 am, Lahore's Jinnah hospital announced that Sarabjit was dead. While most of his years in jail were spent in anonymity, Sarabjit’s death has become the latest bone of contention between India and Pakistan.
India's ministry of external affairs did not mince its words and said Sarabjit's death was “the killing of our citizen while in the custody of Pakistan jail authorities.” From Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the BJP, leaders across the political spectrum expressed their anguish at Sarabjit’s death.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing away of Sarabjit Singh. He was a brave son of India who bore his tribulations with valiant fortitude,” the PM said. The PM was critical of Pakistan in handling the case. “It is regrettable that Pakistan did not heed pleas made by India, Sarabjit's family and civil society in India and Pakistan to take a humanitarian view of this case,” he added.
The BJP, too, was critical of Pakistan’s handling of the situation. “The level of diplomatic relations should be scaled down and for the time being. Indian high commissioner to Pakistan should return,” BJP president Rajnath Singh said.
PAKISTAN STABBED INDIA IN THE BACK, SAYS SISTER
Dalbir Kaur, Sarabjit's sister who waged a long battle to highlight her brother's case, asked all political parties to come together and strengthen the government's hands.
“He was martyred for India. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari killed him because of elections,” Kaur said.
Kaur has also claimed that a Pakistani human rights activist had demanded at least Rs 2 crore for the release of her brother.
“If I had given Rs 2 crore, my brother would have been alive now. The person initially demanded Rs 25 crore. When I said I that I was from a poor family, the person said I would have to give at least Rs 2 crore,” she alleged.
PAK ORDERS JUDICIAL PROBE
The post-mortem on Sarabjit's body has been conducted. The body was handed over to the Indian High Commission.
The government of Pakistan Punjab, who termed the incident ‘unfortunate’, also ordered a judicial probe. Police added murder charges to the FIR registered against the two death row prisoners - Amer Aftab and Mudassar – who have been booked for attacking him.
SARABJIT’S HOMETOWN SHUT
Sarabjit’s hometown of Bhikiwind virtually shut down in grief. The Punjab government has offered jobs to Sarabjit's daughters and CM Parkash Singh Badal said Sarabjit would be given a state-level funeral.
THE FARMER, THE SPY, THE ‘MARTYR’
Before the brutal attack that led to his death, Sarabjit Singh had been languishing in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail for the past 23 years. A resident of Bhikiwind in Punjab's border belt of Tarn Taran, Sarabjit, a farmer, came from a poor rural family. After being imprisoned, he met his family in 2008 after 18 years, when he saw his daughters for the first and last time. Though charged with being an Indian spy, the prisoner and his family always maintained that his was a case of mistaken identity, stating that he had crossed over into Pakistan in an inebriated state in 1990.
AUGUST 1990: 26-year-old Sarabjit arrested. Charged in Lahore blasts.
OCTOBER 1991: Sentenced to death.
MARCH 2006: Pak Supreme Court rejected his appeal for mercy.
MARCH 2008: Renewed mercy plea rejected by Pervez Musharraf.
ON APRIL 30, 2009: Hanging postponed indefinitely.
JUNE 2012 Death sentence commuted to life. Pak says they would release him in a prisoner swap. Later, they say they were releasing another convict, Surjeet Singh.
AUGUST 2012: Fresh appeal for mercy to Zardari filed.
APRIL 26, 2013: Sarabjit attacked.
MAY 1, 2013: Sarabjit dies of cardiac arrest. Family says he should be declared a martyr.

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