Sarabjit will be given state funeral, Punjab CM Badal says
PTI - May 2, 2013, 04.49 PM IST
CHANDIGARH: Describing Sarabjit Singh as a "national martyr", Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday said that the Indian death row prisoner, who died in Pakistan, will be given a state funeral.
49-year-old Sarabjit's death was an "entirely avoidable tragedy", Badal said while strongly condemning the "inhuman treatment and brutal murder" of the prisoner right under the nose of the Pakistani authorities.
Expressing shock and grief over his death in a Lahore hospital after battling for his life for nearly a week, Badal said that Sarabjit is a "national martyr who suffered unspeakable repression and torture with dignity".
He will be given a state funeral, the chief minister told reporters here.
Badal said that the Punjab government will provide government jobs to Sarabjit's two daughters. "We will also stand by the family for whatever help they need".
A special chartered plane is scheduled to bring Sarabjit's body to Amritsar from Lahore, the Chief Minister said, adding that the mortal remains along with his family members will be flown by a chopper to their village, Bikhiwind, for the last rites.
The government will move a resolution in the Punjab Assembly to condole the death of Sarabjit, he said.
Coming down heavily on the handling of the case by the central government, Badal said, "This is gross diplomatic failure and a sign of weakness on the part of Union government. Nations are run with a degree of strength of will, which is so missing in this government.
"We have this very sad feeling that the Government of India failed to articulate the national sentiment on Sarabjit and did not even take the necessary diplomatic initiative at a level where it was called for."
Sarabjit died of cardiac arrest in a Lahore hospital in the wee hours today after being comatose following a brutal assault by fellow inmates in a high-security Pakistani jail on Friday last.
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sarabjit-will-be-given-state-funeral-Punjab-CM-Badal-says/articleshow/19835465.cms
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2 May 2013 Last updated at 09:33 ET
India demands justice over 'spy' Sarabjit Singh's death
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has demanded those responsible for the death in a Pakistani jail of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian man convicted of spying, be brought to justice.
Sarabjit Singh died after being attacked with bricks by other inmates in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail on Friday.
He had been sentenced to death by a court in Pakistan in 1991.
Sarabjit Singh's body is expected to arrive in India in the evening on a specially chartered plane.
His family are reported to be waiting for the plane in the city of Amritsar, in the northern state of Punjab, his home state.
A state funeral is due to take place on Friday.
A six-member medical panel has carried out an autopsy at Jinnah Hospital in Lahore.
'Brave son of India'
In a statement, Manmohan Singh called Sarabjit Singh "a brave son of India" and said the attack was "barbaric".
"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 added.
Sarabjit Singh fell into a coma and died at 01:00 on Thursday morning (20:00 Wednesday GMT) in Lahore's Jinnah hospital.
He had been sentenced to death for spying and his role in bomb attacks that killed 14 people in Pakistan in 1990.
Sarabjit Singh's family, who had only just returned to India after visiting him in hospital, always insisted he was innocent and had strayed into Pakistan by mistake when he was arrested.
But mercy petitions were rejected by Pakistani courts and former President Pervez Musharraf.
Sarabjit Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur called her brother's death "a murder by Pakistan", according to the Associated Press.
Ms Kaur said she would continue to fight for the release of other Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails.
Sarabjit Singh
•Accused of spying and involvement in the 1990 bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad in which 14 people died
•Convicted and sentenced to death in 1991
•Pakistan says his real name was Manjit Singh
•Campaigners allege his trial was unfair and he confessed under torture
•His family says he was a farmer who strayed into Pakistan by mistake while drunk
•Delhi unsuccessfully appealed for his release or transfer to India
•Died after being attacked by inmates in Lahore's prison
India had appealed for Sarabjit Singh, 49, to be released or transferred to India over concerns about his treatment following his attack. He had sustained several serious injuries, including a fractured skull.
The Pakistani foreign ministry said that Sarabjit Singh had received "the best treatment available" and that "medical staff at Jinnah Hospital had been working round the clock... to save his life".
Espionage accusations
The issue risks stirring fresh tensions in relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours and long-time rivals, correspondents say.
Strains had already increased in the past six months with the execution in India of Kashmiri Afzul Guru over the 2001 attack on India's parliament, and of Mohammed Ajmal Qasab, a Pakistani who was the sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Sarabjit Singh's lawyer Owais Sheikh said his client had received threats after Guru's execution.
Sarabjit Singh's family had visited him in hospital earlier in the week
Sarabjit Singh was attacked as he and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for a one-hour break.
Two inmates were charged with attempted murder and two officials suspended.
Pakistan and India frequently arrest each other's citizens, often accusing them of being spies after they have strayed across the land or maritime border.
In recent years, several Indians returning from Pakistani jails have admitted to spying.
Some have criticised India's government for abandoning them.
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-22378113
