After Punjab's Sarabjit Singh breathed his last on May 1 and Jammu's Chamel Singh was beaten to death in lahore's Kot lakhpat jail, 11 Indian prisoners languishing behind the same iron bars even after completion of their sentence have appealed to the Centre to allow Pakistan to shoot them dead.
They have also demanded death for 17 other prisoners, including four women, who have allegedly lost their mental balance. The prisoners are accusing the "lackadaisical approach" of the Indian government towards their sufferings. In a letter sent through Jammu-resident Vinod Sahny, recently released from lahore jail, the Indian prisoners have stated that they cannot bear the torture any more.
"We want to get rid of this hellish life and be free from all tribulations," they stated in the letter. The prisoners named in the letter are Kirpal Singh, Kuldip Singh, Dharam Singh, Mohammed Farid, Tilak Raj, Maqbool lone, Abdul Majid, Shambhu Nath, Surja Ram, Mohinder Singh and Punwasi.
Even as they have not mentioned their native places, their pleas have been addressed to the states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi, besides the country's media. "We have understood that working with patriotic zeal is a crime and we are undergoing punishment for this. It seems that Indian government is working on a policy to let its citizens die in a foreign land," read the letter, said to be written on July 27, 2013.
It added, "numerous prisoners are suffering in Pakistan prisons. Indian government is not ready to own them. It is better to die once than dying every day." The letter has been forwarded to Punjab's Rajya Sabha member and senior BJP leaders Avinash Rai Khanna, who is going to raise the issue in the Parliament on Monday.
"I will raise the issue in the parliament and ask the Union Foreign Minister what the Ministry is doing in this direction, and what steps, so far, have been taken in this regard," he added.