The Indian government again asked Pakistan on Monday to release death row convict Sarabjit Singh, whose condition remained critical after his brutal assault by inmates at a Lahore jail, and also demanded a through investigation into the attack to ensure punishment to the guilty.
New Delhi also urged Islamabad to consider the option of transferring Sarabjit, 49, to India so that he can benefit from the best medical treatment available here. The external affairs ministry said it was clear from the latest medical bulletins from doctors in Lahore his condition remained critical, and that it “shares the anguish and concern of his family members, and our prayers will remain with them”.
The MEA said: “In view of the recent tragic events and present circumstances, we once again appeal to the Government of Pakistan to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view of this case, and release Sarabjit Singh.”
It added that Indian high commission officials were in touch with the authorities at Jinnah Hospital in Lahore
and “we would like them to consider the option of transferring Sarabjit Singh to India so that he can benefit from the best medical treatment available here”.
Minister of state for home R.P.N. Singh said earlier that India was ready to provide full medical assistance to Sarabjit. “It is our endeavour and we will do whatever is in our hands to make sure all proper medical treatment is given to Sarabjit Singh — whether it is Pakistani doctors or medical experts from foreign countries. We are also ready to provide full medical assistance, if there is a need for any assistance from our side,” he told reporters at Parliament House.
In Lahore, Pakistani officials dismissed a report that a medical board was considering a plan to send Sarabjit abroad for treatment. The four-member medical board headed by Jinnah Hospital chief executive Mahmood Shaukat conducted a routine examination of Sarabjit on Monday morning, but a Punjab (Pakistan) health official said the board had “no mandate (to decide) about sending Sarabjit abroad”. He added that Sarabjit was being given the “best treatment” at Jinnah Hospital. Sources at the hospital clarified, however, that there was “no improvement whatsoever” in Sarabjit’s condition.
In Islamabad, the Pakistan foreign office also made it clear Sarabjit “won’t be sent abroad for treatment... nor can Indian doctors be given access to him”.
A spokesman said Sarabjit’s family was allowed to see him on Sunday and have been permitted to meet him whenever they wished. They were with him on Monday too. One family member has been allowed to stay with him in the intensive care unit, a hospital source said.
A Pakistani lawyer, meanwhile, filed a petition in the Lahore registry of the Pakistan Supreme Court, asking it to direct the authorities to send Sarabjit to Britain for better medical treatment. Barrister Zafarullah, in his petition, also asked the court to free Sarabjit and another 120 death row prisoners as they had been in prison for a period equivalent to a life sentence.
“The condemned prisoners who have completed the period of a life sentence should be set free and the court should issue an order in this regard,” he said.