Ummid Assistant

Taj Group to train underprivileged rural youth in Maharashtra

Robotics competition for Andhra school students

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » National

Sarabjit's body arrives in India; state funeral Friday

Thursday May 02, 2013 11:48:24 PM, IANS

Related articles

India Pakistan

Sarabjit Singh dies in Lahore hospital

Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who was admitted to a Lahore hospital after being savagely attacked in jail, died Thursday, a media report said. Sarabjit Singh died in Lahore's  »

Special aircraft to bring back Sarabjit's body

India asks Pakistan to release or send Sarabjit to third country for treatment

Amritsar/New Delhi/Lahore: Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh's body was brought to India after he died in a Pakistani hospital early Thursday, succumbing to his injuries six days after being attacked by his fellow inmates in a jail and pushing the India-Pakistan equation to a new low.

Authorities Thursday evening started a post-mortem examination of the body after it was brought from Lahore by a special Air India flight to Amritsar's international airport and taken by helicopter to his native town Bhikhiwind, 50 km from Amritsar.

The autopsy was being conducted by a team of doctors from Amritsar Medical College in the hospital at the sub-division town of Patti, 40 km from Amritsar.

Sarabjit's family signed the papers allowing a post-mortem examiantion to be conducted in India, saying that they had no trust in the autopsy conducted by a medical board in Pakistan. He will be cremated Friday afternoon in Bhikhiwind with full state honours.

At 12.45 a.m. Pakistan time (1.15 a.m. IST), Lahore's Jinnah Hospital announced that Sarabjit was dead, bringing an end to a 23-year saga that began on a fateful August day in 1990 when he crossed over to Pakistan.

Following his death, the authorities in New Delhi and Punjab announced a number of measures, including state-level honours at his cremation, financial assistance to the family and government jobs to both his daughters.

While Pakistan declared him a terrorist and convicted him for blasts in Lahore and Multan that left 14 dead, his family claimed that the devoted brother, husband and father from a poor rural family in Punjab had strayed acros in an inebriated state when he was just 26.

Sarabjit's family, which was in New Delhi, reached Bhikhiwind by helicopter Thursday evening. Scores of local residents gathered at the helipad to meet them and accompanied them to their house.

Angry residents held protests Thursday and kept the entire town shut. Shops and educational institutions also remained closed.

Protestors gathered at various places and condemned the "cowardly" act by Pakistani authorities which led to Sarabjit's death.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced three-day mourning for Sarabjit and said that he would be given a state-level funeral. He announced government jobs for Sarabjit's two daughters and financial assistance of Rs.1 crore.

The union government also announced assistance of Rs.25 lakh to the distraught family.

Most of his years were spent in anonymity but in death, Sarabjit - who had been brutally assaulted with bricks and plates in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail April 26 and had slipped into a deep coma - became the latest bone of contention between the troubled neighbours.

India's ministry of external affairs did not mince its words either and said Sarabjit's death was "put simply, the killing of our citizen while in the custody of Pakistani jail authorities".

From Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), leaders across the political spectrum expressed deep anguish at the untimely death of the 49-year-old.

"I am deeply saddened by the passing away of Sarabjit Singh. He was a brave son of India who bore his tribulations with valiant fortitude," the prime minister said, adding it is "particularly regrettable" that the Pakistan government did not heed pleas of the Indian government, Sarabjit's family and of civil society in India and Pakistan to take a humanitarian view of this case.

Expressing deep shock and sorrow at Sarabjit's death, both houses of parliament Thursday condemned the "inhuman treatment" meted out to him in a Pakistani jail.

The identical statements was read out by Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha, and Chairman Hamid Ansari in the Rajya Sabha.

"The house condemns the inhuman treatment meted out to Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistani jail and hopes the culprits will be brought to book," said the resolution.

As a string of VIPs, including Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, went to pay their condolences to Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur, the BJP upped the ante and demanded that diplomatic relations with Pakistan be scaled down.

"The level of diplomatic relations should be scaled down and for the time being Indian high commissioner to Pakistan should be called back," BJP president Rajnath Singh said.

Attacking the government on the emotive issue, others spoke out too, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who said: "This is the result of bad handling of the case."

But Dalbir Kaur, Sarabjit's doughty sister who waged a long and hard battle to highlight her brother's case, asked all political parties to come together and strengthen the government's hands.

"He was martyred for India. (Pakistan President Asif Ali) Zardari killed him because of elections," Dalbir Kaur told reporters.

"The entire country should come together. I appeal to all parties to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde."

Dalbir Kaur, who along with Sarabjit's wife and daughters returned from Pakistan Wednesday claiming they were not being given information on his condition, claimed Sarabjit had written to her that Pakistani authorities had asked him to undergo training in terror camps.

She also alleged a prominent Pakistani human rights activist had demanded money from her to secure Sarabjit's release, and demanded visas of all visiting Pakistani activists be cancelled.

Pakistani Punjab's caretaker Chief Minister Najam Sethi admitted there was negligence in the case but no conspiracy or evidence to link it to parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's hanging.

"I have not seen any evidence of this sort. I've just come in and I've not seen the earlier files," Sethi told CNN-IBN channel in response to a query.

 




 

 

 



 

Home | Top of the Page

Comments

Note: By posting your comments here you agree to the terms and conditions of www.ummid.com

Comments powered by DISQUS

i

More Headlines

SARS like virus takes five more deaths in Saudi Arabia

Khurshid to go ahead with Beijing visit: Official

All-party meet to show EVMs with verifiable vote, apex court told

Experts to reconstruct Ghaziabad 'custody death' scene

Indian workers in Saudi Arabia can regularise visa status

No evidence to link Sarabjit attack to Afzal hanging: Najam Sethi

Gandhi's prayer beads, letters to go under hammer in UK

SC directs CBSE to hold supplementary NEET for Urdu medium students

Court orders NIA to release Rs.2.6mn it seized from 'suspect'

 

Top Stories

India Pakistan

Sarabjit Singh dies in Lahore hospital

Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who was admitted to a Lahore hospital after being savagely attacked in jail, died Thursday, a media report said. Sarabjit Singh died in Lahore's  »

Special aircraft to bring back Sarabjit's body

India asks Pakistan to release or send Sarabjit to third country for treatment

 

  Most Read

SC directs CBSE to hold supplementary NEET for Urdu medium students

Providing a timely relief to hundreds of Urdu medium students, the Supreme Court of India in a historic decision on Thursday directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to hold  »

Framing Innocents

Court orders NIA to release Rs.2.6mn it seized from 'suspect'

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court in New Delhi on Thursday ordered the country's central investigating agency to release over 2.6 million rupees in cash it seized from the residence of a "suspect" during  »

 

  News Pick

SC dismisses challenge to FDI in multi-brand retail

"Consumer is the king", the Supreme Court said Wednesday upholding the government's policy of allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail  »

US Visa Ban

US religious body concerned over Modi entry into US

A US federal advisory body has reiterated its concerns about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's admissibility to the US due to his alleged "complicity in the 2002 riots" in the state.  »

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister lays foundation stone of Bhopal Haj House

The long cherished dreams of Muslims of having a Hajj House at Bhopal was fulfilled when its foundation stone laying ceremony was performed here at Singarcholi near the city’s airport with much religious fervour. Muslims from all over the state in large numbers converged  »

1 killed as quake on Himachal-J&K border rocks north India

One person was killed and tremors were felt in the Indian capital and large parts of north India, including Srinagar, Jammu, Shimla and Chandigarh, following a 5.8-magnitude quake  »

 

Picture of the Day

A view of the newly Commissioned Indian Coast Guard Ship H-191, in Mumbai Harbour on April 09, 2013.

 

Recommend the story to your friends

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

 

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Science & Technology

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Health

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

Contact us

Business

The Funny Side

Education & Career

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.