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Revision as of 08:59, 26 April 2008 by Rayhan.aslam (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Sarabjit Singh, also known as Manjit singh, An Indian citizen who was convicted for his involvement in four bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that killed 14 people. His execution was earlier fixed for April 1. He was likely to be hanged on May 1, 2008.
Prosecution Case
On August 24 , 2005 ,Foreign Office spokesman Naeem Khan said that ‘The alleged Indian agent Manjit Singh confessed his involvement in bomb blasts in Pakistan whose all evidences were presented in court’. According to the record, he was arrested red handed during crossing the border in August 1990 near the Kasur . Nine days later, he was produced before a magistrate as ‘Manjit Singh’, a man wanted for acts of terrorism in Pakistan. Before the magistrate, Manjit confessed to his crime. Also Pakistan says he was working for the Indian intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing ) when he was arrested in Lahore. He was awarded the death penalty by the Anti-Terrorist Court in 1991, based on the original confession he had made before a magistrate. His sentence was upheld by the High Court and later by the Supreme Court. He was likely to be hanged on May 2008. The Supreme Court rejected his mercy petition in March 2006 and upheld the death sentence. President Pervez Musharraf had rejected his mercy petition on March 3.
Arguments for Manjit
Later on he denied it all during trial. He maintained that his name was Sarabjit Singh and that he had often crossed the Kasur border, smuggling alcohol . Manjit Singh’s relatives say he is a simple farmer who was arrested after he strayed across the Pakistani border from his northern frontier hometown of Bhikiwind in Punjab state while drunk in 1990. His wife Sukh Prit Kaur, a resident of Bhikhiwind village of district Tarantaran, claimed he left to plough his fields near Wagah Border on August 28, 1990, but never returned. She said the family launched a search but could not find any clue to his whereabouts for nine months and finally they received a letter from Manjit informing them that he was caught by Pakistani border forces when he mistakenly crossed the border under the influence of liquor. External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh took up Manjit Singh’s case with Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan and urged him to convey Delhi’s hope that Islamabad would treat the matter as a humanitarian issue.
Visit of his family to Pakistan
Later on the Government of Pakistan has been given seven-day visa to Manjit’s family to visit Lahore and Nankana Sahib. We are hopeful that the government of Pakistan will release Manjit Singh after reviewing his death sentence and our visit to Pakistan will not prove futile.”Manjit’s wife Sukh Prit Kaur, who was accompanied by his two daughters Swapan Deep and Poonam Kaur, a sister and a paternal uncle, expressed the hope at Gurdwara Dera Sahib after her arrival in the city via Wagah on Wednesday.
References
- The daily DAWN, March 18,2008.
- The daily DAWN, March 20,2008.
- The daily DAWN, April 24,2008.
- The daily DAWN, August 26,2005.
- The daily DAWN, August 29,2005.