Sarabjit Singh (1963/1964 – May 2, 2013) was an alleged Indian citizen convicted and jailed in Kot Lakhpat jail, Pakistan from 1990 to his death. He was convicted in Pakistan as 'Manjit Singh' but still the evidence is missing for involvement in the 1990 serial bomb blasts at Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 people. Sarabjit claimed that he was a farmer and a victim of mistaken identity, who strayed into Pakistan from his village located on the border, three months after the bombings, when drunk.

 He was sentenced to death in 1991, but his hanging had been repeatedly postponed. Five mercy petitions were filed on his behalf, in which Sarabjit maintained that he served twenty-two years of prison term for a crime he had not committed. On 26 June 2012, it was reported that Pakistan's President had ordered his release on the basis of his petition filed on 28 May 2012. However, five hours later , due to internal pressure from Islamic extremists this pardon was revoked and it was claimed that another prisoner, Surjeet Singh, had been pardoned and not Sarabjit. In April 2013, Sarabjit suffered serious injuries in an attack by the fellow prison inmates, and died on 2 May 2013 in the Jinnah hospital at Lahore.

Background and family

Sarabjit was from Bhikhiwind, located along the Indo-Pakistani border in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab, India. Sarabjit was married to Sukhpreet Kaur and had two daughters Swapandeep and Poonam Kaur. His sister, Dalbir Kaur, was working for his release.

Arrest and prosecution

On the night of 28 August 1990, Sarabjit was arrested by Pakistani border guards in an inebriated state on the Indo-Pakistani border near Kasur. Sarabjit and his supporters maintained that the arrest was a case of mistaken identity and that he was only a poor farmer who was drunk and had strayed off the border. His wife Sukhpreet Kaur claimed that he left to plough his fields near the Wagah border on August 28, 1990, but never returned. She said the family launched a search but could not find any clue to his whereabouts for nine months. Finally they received a letter from Sarabjit informing them that he had been caught by Pakistani border forces when he had mistakenly crossed the border under the influence of liquor.

He was initially arrested on the charges of illegally crossing the India-Pakistan border. But after eight days, the Pakistani police charged him with being involved in the 1990 terror blasts at Faislabad and Lahore. The authorities portrayed that he was 'Manjit Singh' and had been responsible for the four blasts which killed 14 people, and had been arrested while returning to India after carrying out the bombings. He was accused of working for the Indian intelligence and was viewed as a terrorist in Pakistan. He was convicted of spying and carrying out the bomb blasts and was given the death penalty; however never presented the evidence to India.

Death sentence

In 1991 Sarabjit was given the death sentence under the Pakistan's Army Act. His sentence was upheld by the High Court and later by the Pakistan Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed his petition to review his death sentence in March 2006 as Sarabjit's lawyers failed to appear for the hearing. Sarabjit said that his appeal had been dismissed by the Pakistan Supreme Court for non-prosecution only because of lack of interest by his former lawyer.

On June 26 2012, the President of Pakistan decided to release Sarabjit but a few hours later, amidst condemnation by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamaat-ud-Da’wah clarified that the prisoner to be released was Surjeet Singh and not Sarabjit.

Issues with prosecution

On 26 April 2008, the key witness Shaukat Salim .. retracted his statement during an interview with newspersons. Salim's father and other relatives had been killed in the attack. In court Salim had provided testimony that Sarabjit was the one who had planted the bomb but later on accepted that he had done so under pressure from the Pakistani police. However Sarabjit's lawyer, Abdul Rana Hamid, said that Salim's statements had no legal standing as they were never recorded in court.

Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney has claimed that none of the four FIRs lodged with regard to the bombings contained Sarabjit’s name or his description and that Sarabjit had been arrested on the night of 30 August 1990 from the Kasur border for illegally crossing the Indo-Pakistani border. But after eight days the police implicated him in the terrorist bombings. He had not been arrested red handed. Burney also pointed out that the same magistrate had recorded the statements of the witnesses in all the four terror blast cases, out of which one had taken place at Faisalabad and the remaining three at Lahore, although the police cases had been lodged in four different police stations and two different districts. He said four different magistrates should have recorded the statements. None of the statements recorded in front of the magistrate were taken under oath. Sarabjit had been paraded before the witnessed in the absence of the magistrate, and the police had informed the witnesses that he was the culprit. This was also confirmed by Shaukat Salim, a key prosecution witness in the case.

A British lawyer, Jas Uppal, campaigning for his release pointed to several loopholes in the trial.[13] According to her

• His identity was never verified or proved in court and no forensic evidence was provided at his trial to link him to the bomb attacks.
• The trial was conducted in English, whereas Sarabjit does not speak or understand English, and an interpreter was not provided.
• There were other serious questions over the fairness of his trial, including allegations that he was tortured in custody and forced to confess
• The trial was fast-tracked and the main witness repeatedly changed his version of events.

Mercy petitions

Since his conviction in 1991, several mercy petitions have been filed by Sarabjit's legal representatives.

The fifth petition was filed on 28 May 2012 along with 100,000 signatures collected from India. But so far the mercy petition has not been approved by Pakistan.

Support in favour and efforts for release

On 23 August 2005, the Sarabjit's case was taken up in both the houses of the Indian Parliament, where the government was asked to take necessary action for his release.

In March 2008, Sarabjit's family went to Pakistan when his hanging was to be carried out. They met several prominent Pakistani politicians including the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to appeal for his release. Sharif said,"After seeing the plight of the members of Sarabjit's family who have come to Pakistan, any person can feel the pain they are going through."

Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh took up Sarabjit Singh’s case with the Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan and urged him to convey Delhi’s hope that Islamabad would treat the matter as a humanitarian issue.

In June 2012, the Bollywood actor Salman Khan came forward to seek the support from people and the media for the release of Sarabjit. He started an online petition from his NGO Being Human in support of Sarabjit's release.

Free Sarabjit Campaign

In 2009, the British lawyer, Jas Uppal, started an online campaign "freesarabjitsingh.com" to highlight his case and request human rights group to intervene on his behalf. Awaish Sheikh, Sarabjit's lawyer from Pakistan, supported the campaign and provided his services free of charge to Sarabjit.

The Bollywood actor and activist Raza Murad has also been campaigning for his release. Until June 2012 he had collected 138,226 signatures to support Sarabjit's release. After a flip-flop by the Pakistani government regarding his release in June 2012, he intensified his 'Free Sarabjit' campaign .

Protests

In April 2008, a group of Pakistani students organized a march, seeking withdrawal of all official moves to pardon Sarabjit. In December 2012, an aggressive protest against Sarabjit Singh was observed in front of the Lahore Press Club in which Indian flags were burnt by Islamist radicals.

Hoax presidential pardon

On 26 June 2012, both Pakistani and International media reported President Asif Ali Zardari signed a document sent by the interior ministry of Pakistan commuting Sarabjit's death sentence to life in prison. A life sentence in Pakistan is generally for 14 years, and Sarabjit, having spent 22 years in jail was to be shortly released. The news of his pardon and imminent release initiated celebrations in his hometown. The Indian foreign minister also issued a statement of appreciation to Islamabad for the gesture.

Five hours later, however, the Pakistani Government agencies issued a statement denying the reports and holding the media responsible for the confusion. They announced that the release order had in fact been for another prisoner, Surjeet Singh, who was pardoned in 1989. Sarabjit's family condemned the incident as a deliberate and cruel joke.

Sarabjit Singh filed a fresh mercy appeal to the President of Pakistan on the 65th independence day of that country.

ail attack 2013 and death

On 26 April 2013 at about 4:30 pm, Sarabjit was allegedly attacked in the Central Jail Lahore (Kot Lakhpat jail) by six prisoners with bricks, sharp metal sheets, iron rods and blades. He was admitted to the Jinnah hospital in a critical condition with severe head injuries. He was in a coma, with a broken back and on a ventilator. According to his sister, the attack on Sarabjit was pre-planned and that the jail authorities were involved. Sarabjit Singh was attacked 3 days after mainstream media reports of the incursion in and continued occupation of Daulat Beg Oldi (Ladakh) by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. His wife, sister and two daughters were allowed to visit him in the hospital. His condition continued to be very serious.

Sarabjit had been threatened after Afzal Guru was executed in India in February 2013 over his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack case. Some sources had indicated that the attack was planned after Guru's execution. The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, termed the attack as very sad. On 29 April 2013, India appealed to Pakistan to release Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds or at least allow him to be provided medical treatment in India, but these were repeatedly rejected by Pakistan. Appeals by lawyers were also filed with the Supreme Court of Pakistan to send Sarabjit for medical treatment to the UK or outside Pakistan to save his life.

On May 1, 2013 he was declared brain dead by doctors at the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore but Pakistani authorities refused to give a statement. His sister and family returned to India. His sister said that the doctors attending to his brother were not being honest with them and she suspected foul play. She also remarked to having seen ink on his left thumb and that the Pakistani doctors had been evading questions.

On May 2, 2013, he was reported to have died at 12:45 am local time in Jinnah hospital, Lahore, and his body is being brought to India for funeral rites. Sources reported that he was removed from the ventilator support after his condition worsened towards the middle of the night.