The Opposition on Thursday came out strongly against the UPA for its failure to ensure the safety of Sarabjit Singh.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh demanded that New Delhi should call back its envoy in Pakistan and scale down diplomatic engagements with the neighbouring country. “I had made similar demands when Pakistan Army personnel had beheaded Hemraj. If the UPA Government would have listened to us then, perhaps Sarabjit would have had been alive today,” Singh said.
The BJP chief added, “At this point I only want to say that Congress-led UPA Government has tarnished the image of India at the international fora and has sent the message that India is a weak nation. It has given rise to the perception in the world that whatever activities take place against India, it will not even react to them.”
The BJP also termed as a “cold blooded murder” the death of Sarabji. “It is a cold blooded murder. This is not the way civilised nations behave,” leader of Opposition in lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj wrote on microblogging site Twitter.
Shiromani Akali Dal MP from Bhatinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, also held the UPA as responsible as Pakistan for Sarabjit’s death. “Punjab CM has said Sarbjit will be given State honour and both his daughters will get job,” she said.
RSS’ spokesman Manmohan Vaidya said the attack was not on an individual but against India’s Constitution and its Judicial set up. “The attack on Sarabjit by Pakistani hooligans was to avenge the hanging of Afzal Guru who was hanged only when India’s Supreme Court awarded him with death sentence after finding him guilty,” Vaidya said.