by Talha Ibraheem
Sarabjit Singh, an Indian death row prisoner, died of heart attack in the early hours of Thursday morning in Fatima Jinnah hospital, Lahore. Attacked badly by another inmate on a death row, Singh suffered serious head injuries, which eventually landed him in a comatose state.
Convicted as a terrorist by Pakistan’s Court in 1991, Sarabjit Singh was involved in the killing of 14 civilians in the spate of bombings in Punjab. Depicted as a boozed up farmer who strayed across the border by the Indian media, Sarabjit Singh was an Indian agent, caught by security officials as he was trying to cross over to India from Kasur side. Initial investigations led to the revelation that Singh was assigned to execute blasts in Lahore and Faisalabad, which were masterminded across the Eastern border. The Pakistani authorities also discovered that his real name was Manjit Singh, and Sarabjit was the nom de guerre which he used to cover his identity.
The Indian media has played an active role since long in shaping up the public sentiments. With its bellicose aggrandizement of crisis situations and creation of warring scenarios, it has already augmented the border disputes earlier this year. No clarification whatsoever is sought from the government, instead, broad statements are journalized and ticker-ed in TV channels. Some of the headlines of major reporting outlets go like,
Sarabjit’s body reaches Amritsar; India erupts in anger
Sarabjit Singh dead, India-Pakistan ties take another hit
Social media circles are rife with speculations related to the attacks carried out on Sarabjit in lockup. Blames are being hurled at prison authorities, caretaker government, etcetera. Some commentators went as far as suggesting that the Pakistani intelligence is involved in these killings.
A former Indian Spy, Mehboob Elahi, in an interview with the Press Trust of India, said, “I don’t have any doubt that the attack on Sarabjit was pre-planned, and was the handiwork of ISI and jail officials though other people attacked him.”
Yesterday, the Indian Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Sarabjit’s death. The right wing BJP and Akali Dal, lambasted the Congress Government for its failure in developing an effective foreign policy. The idea of scaling down the diplomatic relations with Pakistan was also floated.
“The Indian high commissioner in Pakistan should be called back, and diplomatic relations should be scaled down, till Pakistan gives full assurance that there will be no provocation or protection to any terror activities against India, and full protection will be given to Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails,” the BJP President said.
Sources suggest that Sarabjit was advised to deliberately create ruckus in jail, so that his release efforts could be bolstered citing security concerns. An urgent petition was also lodged at the same time in the High Court seeking his release. According to an official who was authorized to look after the legal matters of this case, the Track 2 diplomatic efforts were also on the verge of success, and the convict was all set to be released before the formation of the new government. Nevertheless, the fight spiraled out of control and Sarabjit got badly injured.
In spite of him being on a death row, whatever transpired in jail is highly condemnable and cannot be justified by any moral or legal code. The jail administration is clearly responsible for the violation of Prisoners’ rights, and it should be held accountable. The government has already slapped killing charges on the convicts involved in Sarabjit’s death. As a prisoner involved in acts of terrorism, Sarabjit got extra-judicial punishment. Instead, the law should have taken its course.
The Indian nation needs to introspect upon the accusations they have lined up against Pakistan following Sarabjit’s death. Criticizing the Pakistani authorities on human rights grounds, wouldn’t change the fact that most of the Pakistani prisoners released by the Indians turns out to be mentally decapitated due to torture and cruelty of the jailers. The barbarity inflicted upon Sepoy Maqbool Hussain, the Prisoner of War for 40 years returned without a tongue, is one of many such examples.
Following Sarabjit Singh’s death, a 65 years old Pakistani prisoner has reportedly been attacked and critically injured in Kot Bhalwal jail by an Indian soldier. Battling with death, Rana Sanaullah is comatose since yesterday.
India, a self-professing champion of human rights, whose institutional edifice is based on secular values, clearly failed to check the humanitarian abuses within its boundaries.
The “collective conscience” of the Indian nation also needs to account for Pakistan’s impeccable record in treatment of Indian prisoners, including convicted terrorists. Former prisoners Kashmir Singh and Surjeet Singh, convicted for spying on sensitive installments, were released eventually, which unfortunately, the “collective conscience” of the Indians doesn’t acknowledge.
If no self-restraint is exercised by India, issues like these would mar peace prospects in South Asia.
Talha Ebraheem is a research associate at PKKH. He can be reached at ahlatibr@hotmail.com