Thoughts on the damned
By HUMERA NIAZI April 29, 2008 An issue of "importance" is that both Pakistan and India should urgently act to relieve the sufferings of the prisoners - Pakistanis and Indians - detained for very minor offences and accidental border crossings. Pakistan should urge India to act sooner rather than later to release such "victims of circumstance", as India speaks of its brand of humanitarianism - atleast for now.
The date on which Sarabjit is to be hanged is April 30, after his mercy petition was rejected by the president. Farhat Ullah Babar in his article writes: "From his death cell the convict appealed that he was not Manjit Singh. He said that he was Sarabjit Singh of Amritsar and that the prosecution had forced him to admit a wrong identity." He further adds: "If the Indian convict is really a case of mistaken identity, it would be a gross miscarriage of justice if he is hanged. If he is actually a RAW agent, it would still be sensible to commute the sentence. Reprieve can be employed to focus on a mechanism to mitigate the sufferings of one country's nationals held in the jails of the other."
However, the thought of four bomb blasts that took place in Pakistan in 1990, allegedly by Manjit (Sarabjit) Singh, sends the shivers to any human being. Sarabjit's sister insists that her brother is not Manjit Singh while talking to CNN - IBN in New Delhi. She also appealed to the government of Pakistan and citizens to look into the matter, again for the sake of humanity'. So, God knows what is going to happen.
E-mail: niazi101pk@yahoo.com
