Lawyer writing book on Sarabjit

Planning to move a fresh application to get Sarabjit’s case re-opened in the trial court in Pakistan,his lawyer Awais Sheikh today said that the the book is about how Sarabjit was given a new identity overnight by the Lahore police after a string of bomb blasts rocked the country in 1990.

In the book,Sheikh,a peace ambassador of Pak-India Peace Initiatives,and a London barrister,Jas Uppal,have also pieced together evidence to show how the real bomb blast suspect,Manjit,escaped the country by proving himself to be a Muslim by marrying a Muslim woman,was arrested and jailed in Canada later,but his whereabouts are not known now.

“Now his eyesight is weak — he wears a pair of glasses — his feet develop fungal infection and need frequent treatment and he is still in solitary confinement. But he is in high spirits. He wants to tell the world his story of mistaken identity. Now even the Pakistani media,which was earlier hostile towards him,addresses him as Indian prisoner not spy,” says Sheikh.

That his spirits are high is reflected in the memento prepared by him for Congress President Sonia Gandhi,which has the words “Sachai chhup nai sakti” (the truth cannot lay hidden) written on a glass and beads artpiece. He has also sent letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,BJP leader LK Advani,besides Sonia,narrating his story.

But the most precious gift is for his daughter,Swapandeep,who was a year old when he was jailed and is now married. It is an exquisitely designed pink paranda with mirrors and golden strings.

Awais,who has petitioned the Pakistan Supreme Court for commuting Sarabjit’s death sentence to life term,and will be filing a fresh mercy petition before Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari,says even a life sentence comes with 14 years’ imprisonment and Sarabjit has already spent 20 years in jail.

“His family has fought at all levels. We have also done what we could. Now he wants to tell the world he is Sarabjit not Manjit through this book,” said Sheikh,who stood flanked by Sarabjit’s sister,Dalbir Kaur.

In his letters,Sarabjit also reveals some harrowing tales of fellow prisoners who were hanged without knowing who they killed,‘corruption’ in police and how justice is ‘managed’.

In these 20 years,Sarabjit has lost faith in justice in Pakistani courts,he says,in his letter that reflects what his new ‘identity’ has given him: proficiency in Urdu.