Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday described Sarabjit Singh as a “brave son of India” and demanded that those responsible for “the barbaric and murderous attack must be brought to justice”.
“It is particularly regrettable that the Government of Pakistan did not heed the pleas of the Government of India, Sarabjit’s family and of the civil society in India and Pakistan to take a humanitarian view of this case,” Singh said here in a statement. He said the nation shares the profound grief of Sarabjit’s family.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said India was talking to Pakistan till the end to ensure better treatment for 49-year-old Sarabjit, but could not succeed. Shinde said India had raised the issue of Sarabjit with Pakistan in different forums and he himself raised the issue when Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik visited India last year and asked him for the release of the Indian.
“We told Pakistan that Sarabjit Singh was not involved in any case and he should be released. We told them in many occasions that it was a case of mistaken identity,” he said.
Asserting that Sarabjit’s death was a killing of an Indian citizen while in the custody of Pakistan jail authorities, the External Affairs Ministry demanded that Pakistan conduct a through probe into the incident to ensure that those who are responsible were punished.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewary said that what happened to Sarabjit was “extremely inhuman and barbaric” since India has been pressing with Pakistan to take a humanitarian view in his case.