India seeks to move Sarabjit Singh home for treatment

A Ministry of External Affairs statement said the Indian mission is in touch with medical authorities in Lahore and “we would like them to consider the option of transferring Sarabjit Singh to India so that he can benefit from the best medical treatment available here”.

Citing humanitarian grounds,New Delhi also asked Islamabad to release Singh,who has been grievously injured after being brutally assaulted by jail inmates in Lahore,and demanded a through investigation into the attack to ensure punishment to the guilty.

“In view of the recent tragic events and present circumstances,we once again appeal to the Government of Pakistan to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view of this case,and release Sarabjit Singh,” the MEA statement said.

Based on the most recent medical bulletin put out by doctors treating him,it is clear that his condition remains critical,it said,adding that it “shares the anguish and concern of his family members,and our prayers will remain with them”.

The MEA also noted that “it is the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan to ensure the safety and security of all Indian prisoners in their custody.”

Singh sustained several injuries,including a skull fracture,when six prisoners attacked him in Kot Lakhpat jail Friday and doctors say his chances of survival are slim.

Singh was convicted of involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and then President Pervez Musharraf. The Pakistan People’s Party-led government put off Sarabjit’s execution for an indefinite period in 2008.

His family says he is the victim of mistaken identity and had inadvertently strayed across the border in an inebriated state.