In death, honour for Sarabjit
State funeral today; Punjab wants him called national martyr
Sparking outrage across India, Sarabjit Singh, 49, the Indian death row prisoner, was declared dead early on Thursday in Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital. He succumbed to injuries inflicted by jail inmates last Friday.
Sarabjit is the second Indian inmate of Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat, after Chamel Singh, 60, to die this year. As a face-saving measure, Pakistan instituted cases of assault and murder against two of Sarabjit’s co-prisoners, Aamir and Mudasir.
“Sarabjit Singh died at around 1 am (Thursday, Pakistan time). He never recovered from the head injuries,” a Pakistan government official said.
The body was flown from Lahore to Amritsar in a special Air India aircraft sent by the Indian government, where it was received at the Raja Sansi airport by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur. The body will be taken by helicopter to Bhikhiwind in the border district of Tarn Taran, where he will be cremated on Friday.
Before that, an autopsy will be performed at the Government Hospital, Amritsar, as per his family’s wish to “know the cause behind his death”.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in demanding justice from Pakistan, and noted that Islamabad had not heeded pleas for taking a humanitarian view on the Sarabjit case. The BJP called for scaling down diplomatic ties with Islamabad for the “cold blooded murder.”
A shattered Dalbir Kaur, sister of Sarabjit, urged political parties to unite for a strong collective response to Pakistan, as her twodecade battle to secure his release came to a tragic end.
The Punjab government has announced three days of state mourning and Sarabjit Singh would be given a state funeral. The state government demanded a probe into Sarabjit’s death and announced that his two daughters would get government jobs.
The Punjab government has announced financial assistance of `1 crore for Sarabjit’s family, PTI reports. The Centre has announced a grant of `25 lakh from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
In a damage control exercise shortly after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in a Lahore hospital, Pakistani authorities on Thursday slapped murder charges against two jail inmates for his brutal murder and ordered a judicial probe.
“A high court judge will conduct the inquiry,” said an official. Earlier, Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal called on Pakistan Punjab’s caretaker CM Najam Sethi in Lahore. “We have added a murder clause to the police complaint (against two accused Amer Aftab and Mudassar),” another official said.
Meanwhile, protests broke out in Sarabjit’s native Bhikhiwind village with villagers lashing out at Pakistan for the fatal attack on him.
Shouting anti-Pakistan slogans, villagers burnt Pakistani flags to register their protest. They also lashed out at Pakistani authorities for not shifting Sarabjit to some other country for “proper treatment.”
Some believe that the attack on the Indian prisoner was a handiwork of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI. “I don't have any doubt that the attack on Sarabjit was preplanned and was the handiwork of ISI and jail officials though other people attacked him. Now, two prisoners are being made sacrificial goats,” said former spy Mehbood Elahi, who was in Pakistani jails for 20 years.