Home they brought the martyr dead

India outraged over the tragedy of Sarabjit

Anita Saluja

New Delhi : It was after 22 years of struggle and diplomatic row that Sarabjit Singh returned to India from Pakistan, not alive but as a martyr on Thursday. Here again, the flight was delayed by a few hours due to the bureaucratic delays in Pakistan. Sarabjit Singh would be cremated on Friday with full State honours at his ancestral village.

His body was brought to Amritsar in Punjab in a special Air India Plane and was received by minister of state for external affairs Praneet Kaur and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.A Sarabjit was given death sentence in 1991, for his alleged involvement in bombings, which took place a year earlier in Lahore and Multan, where 14 people were killed.

India was outraged over the death of Sarabjit Singh, who was brutally assaulted in the Pakistan jail by his fellow inmates. He succumbed to injuries in the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, following cardiac arrest. He was declared brain-dead on Wednesday. Both Houses of parliament adjourned for the day after passing a resolution condemning the barbaric murder of an Indian civilian in Pakistan.

In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Meira Kumar read out the resolution, which stated, "This House condemns the inhuman treatment meted out to Shri Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan jail and hopes that the culprits will be brought to book." In an emotional outburst, Sarabjit's sister, Dalbir Kaur, blamed Pakistan for the inhuman attack and wanted all the political parties to unite against Pakistan.

She appealed to the Opposition to support Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in order to strengthen their hands, so that as a nation, India can respond effectively to Pakistan.

The Prime Minister described Sarabjit as a brave son of India, who bore his tribulations with valiant fortitude. "The criminals responsible for the barbaric and murderous attack on him must be brought to justice. It is particularly regrettable that the government of Pakistan did not heed the pleas of the government of India, Sarabjit's family and of civil society in India and Pakistan to take a humanitarian view of this case," he said.

Asserting that Sarabjit's death was a killing of an Indian citizen while in the custody of Pakistan jail authorities, the External Affairs Ministry demanded that Pakistan conduct a thorough probe into the incident to ensure that those who are responsible were punished.

BJP while condemning the death of Sarabjit as a "cold blooded murder" assumed a strident tone demanding that India call back its High Commissioner in Pakistan and scale down diplomatic relations with that country. Party president Rajnasth Singh said, "The Indian high commissioner in Pakistan should be called back for the time being until Pakistan gives credible assurances that it will not allow its territory to be used to promote terrorism against India and that all Indian prisoners are safe in Pakistani jails.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid when asked whether ties between India and Pakistan will be normal in the backdrop of Sarabjit death said, "I think it is a big question that in coming days we will have to examine and see how do we work." Sarabjit's death was an "entirely avoidable tragedy", Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said, strongly condemning the "inhuman treatment and brutal murder" of the prisoner right under the nose of the Pakistani authorities. Badal also criticised the Centre's approach in handling the matter.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi met the family of Sarabjit Singh. During the meeting with Dalbir Kaur, Rahul Gandhi broke down after hugging her. While External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid expressed his anguish, Shinde promised to facilitate all the help to the distraught family.