Indian activists pose with pictures of late Sarabjit Singh as they pay tribute to him in Kolkata on May 2, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
Lawyer Awais Sheikh’s son, Muhammad Haroon, told the media that his father left home yesterday but did not return. Police initiated an investigation and recovered Sheikh from the by-pass where kidnappers had abandoned him and fled.
Since he first took up Sarabjit’s case in June 2009, Sheikh had said he received many threats. “People labelled me an Indian agent, while others said I was against the state.”
Earlier this month, he escaped a kidnapping incident at Wagha Border where he was seeing off Sarabjit’s family members.
After Sarabjit’s death, Sheikh had vowed to support Indian inmates languishing in local jails.
Indian prisoner Sarabjit had slipped into a coma after suffering multiple serious injuries when six prisoners attacked him on April 26 at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, hitting him on the head with bricks and fracturing his skull.
He passed away earlier this month at Jinnah hospital in Lahore.
Indian newspaper Hindustan Times had reported that Sarabjit had gone to Pakistan for an operation managed by a senior Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official and later became the external intelligence agency’s chief.
COMMENTS (18)
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@vijay:
so please you explain me the meaning of fair trial....huh I understand for you fair trail is when people are massacred in the Kashmir and they are buthered..thats a fair for you.. or is it fair for you to say in UN you will hold peblicite and then India sleeps for years.....
Thank you for your fair treatment that almost all your neighbours hate you...!!!!!
@Hasan:
Then do say Sir, I myself am curious!
@Qureshi: Could we also get some coverage about the families of the victims of this terrorist? Why not discuss terrorism in general and include 162 people killed in Bombay on 26/11 by 10 Pakistani terrorists who pretended to be Hindus? Do you know 40 Indian Muslims were killed in that attack? Pakistan government did not have any evidence of involvement of Sarabjit Singh in Bomb attacks. Pak government charged some one named Manjit Singh for those attacks. In Paki Jails you can make any one confess for anything.
For pakis, Spy means terrorist (the one they send).. but other countries send spies to get military info etc too:)
@Saurav: More than can be said for the Indians
@Shah (Berlin) Pls go through the anonymous Raw Officials' admission again. He admitted that Sarabjit was sent on a spying mission, not to plant a bomb as you have inferred erroneously. Secondly, the eye witness who identified Sarabjit in the court and whose testimony was the sole evidence against him later retracted his statement. That video is available on youtube. Besides, members of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission after going through the whole case also declared the whole trial a farce and travesty of Justice. So it is quite obvious that Sarabjit was innocent of the charges made against him (may be not innocent as far as spying is concerned) and taking into account above points no fair court in the world could have sentenced him to death. Peace.
@Shah (Berlin): Did RAw wrote a letter to you? Quoting from unnamed source is acceptance for you
@waseem sarwar: He was tried in military court and you are saying he was given fair trail. Pakistani don't know the meaning of fair trail.
@shah, "Even Raw has accepted this guy as spy"? ..Where did they accept ?.. IF you believe an Indian Report quoting unofficial Raw source then you trust unknown indian source as Truth ?. Please read all reports by the same indian news site about pakistan and you will read its a country full of terrorists! . Do you believe that too?
@K Singh:
I dont consider him a Devils advocate....and I condemn his kidnapping..but please dont call Sarabjit innocent. Even Raw has accepted that this guy was send to plant a bomb in Pakistan...
@Saurav: He was provided a lawyer and a fair trial, in which he was convicted so he was supposed to be hanged.
@charanjit mann:
Yeah offcouse..... A brave terrorist he was Sarabjit....I think India is proud of sending such terrorists in other countries....
Mr Awais Shaikh is a real hero, a rarity these days, a person who stands by the innocent against the overriding public opinion and displays such conviction and courage under fire when majority of people choose to live in denial and refuse to look beyond their personal biases. People like him are asset to any society and State must do everything to rescue him asap. I exhort all the people who believe Sarabjit was a terrorist and Mr Awais Sheikh is a devil's advocate to consider few facts. Sarabjit's indictment was based on a single eye witness who later retracted his statement and despite that the alactrity with which Sarabjit was awarded death sentence puts a question mark on the fairness of the trial. Also consider the fact that over 40,000 Pakistanis have been killed in terrorism related violence in last few years and I wonder how come the same judicial system failed to sentence a single terrorist so far. This says a lot about the quality and fairness of investigation, prosecution and Judicial process in Pakistan. My sincerest wishes for Mr Sheikh's safety and earliest recovery, Peace.
@Qureshi: Why not? but not in this space please!! Every citizen/human being deserves to be treated fairly and with justice. Otherwise we'll carry on falling into the black hole of anarchy. This man was only trying to do his job and I respect him for that. Hoping and praying for his safe return IA.
Pakistan is such a predictable place.
Sarabjit was provided a lawyer?? Wow!! Apparently Pakistan did put on a nice show to please/fool the Internation community and the human rights orgs.
A brave man in a coward society!What can one expect?
Could we also get some coverage about the families of the victims of this terrorist?