INDIA/PAKISTAN: India's former Foreign Minister, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna condemns the attack on prisoner, Sarabjit Singh inside a Pakistani Jail while protests erupt demanding an enquiry into the attack

Record ID: 353845

  • Title: INDIA/PAKISTAN: India's former Foreign Minister, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna condemns the attack on prisoner, Sarabjit Singh inside a Pakistani Jail while protests erupt demanding an enquiry into the attack
  • Date: 27th April 2013
  • Summary: LAHORE, PAKISTAN (APRIL 26, 2013) (REUTERS) NIGHTSHOTS: CARS MOVING OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL AMBULANCE AND NEWS VANS OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL GATE LOCALS WALKING SIGNBOARD: "ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY" POLICE OFFICIALS WALKING IN THE HOSPITAL LOBBY POLICE OFFICIALS STANDING GATHERING OF POLICE OFFICIALS AND HOSPITAL VISITORS
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADYS5I5JR1N6E3MW44J50NSREV
  • Story Text: India's former Foreign Minister, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna condemned the attack on a prisoner convicted of spying for India in a Pakistani jail on Friday (April 26).
    Sarabjit Singh was hospitalised with a serious head injury, a doctor said, after two fellow prisoners attacked him in Kot Lakhpat Jail in the eastern city of Lahore, in an incident that could inflame the uneasy relations between the two nations.

    "I think our ambassador should take it up very seriously with the Pakistani authorities and then the external affairs ministry, I am sure would have already taken steps to summon the high commissioner of Pakistan in India and then convey the concern," said Krishna.
    Singh was arrested in Pakistan in 1991 and sentenced to death for spying and carrying out four bomb blasts that killed 14 people. His family says he is innocent.
    Singh's sister, Dalbir Kaur who has been rallying for her brother's release was being treated by doctors after experiencing chest pains soon after she heard of the news of her brother.

    "Dalbir Kaur's blood pressure had increased, her heartbeat is also not normal. We have conducted biochemistry and blood biochemistry on her whose reports are awaited. Her chief complaint was chest pain and breathlessness," said a doctor, Ajay Gupta.
    Elsewhere, in northern Jammu city of India's Kashmir, protests erupted with people demanding an enquiry into the attack.

    "We demand that a high-level team of doctors should go to Pakistan in addition to a high-level enquiry into the attack on Sarabjit Singh so that facts are revealed. This was a conspiracy to kill Sarabjit Singh in which they have meted out inhuman treatment to him. This was well planned by Pakistan," said a protester, Chetan Sharma.
    One man, whose father had been tortured in a Pakistani jail was concerned for Singh's safety.

    "My father was tortured and killed in a Pakistan Jail.We are hearing the same things about Sarabjit Singh. He is seriously ill. We had appealed to the Indian government to take strict action and enquiry, but nothing was done," said Chamel Singh's son, Deepak.
    Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the partition of British-ruled India in 1947, but they began a peace process in 2004.
    Despite better relations, the neighbours remain deeply suspicious of each other.
    India blamed Pakistani militants for carrying the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people over three days and raised questions over the involvement of Pakistani security services.
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