India seeks consular access to Sarabjit

It has been indicated to Pakistan that hanging Sarabjit “might not be the best way to deal with the situation in the prevailing circumstances”.

The Indian Government also hoped on Monday that Pakistan would show some leniency in the case. Pointing out that the Government had limited options in the case, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said they could only request Pakistan for leniency on humanitarian grounds.

However, there was little hope coming from Islamabad, with the Pakistani minister who was instrumental in the recent release of alleged Indian spy Kashmir Singh saying he would not submit any petition in support of Sarabjit as he had been “charged with terrorism”.

Caretaker Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney said in a statement in Lahore that he had supported the release of Kashmir, who was sent back to India on March 4 after spending 35 years on the death row, because he had paid for his “crime”.

Sarabjit was sentenced to death in 1991 for the blasts in Lahore and Multan, and officials from the Indian High Commission were last granted consular access to him in 2005. President Pervez Musharraf as well as the Pakistan Supreme Court have rejected his mercy plea. Sarabjit’s family insists the whole case is based on mistaken identity, and that he had accidentally strayed into Pakistan. Sarabjit’s lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid said on Sunday that there was “no legal option” left to save his client. He could be saved only if Musharraf granted him a pardon or if there was some “extraordinary understanding” between the Indian and Pakistani governments, he said.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Sharma said the Government had approached Pakistan earlier as well, seeking a reprieve for Sarabjit on the basis of public sentiment. Describing the matter as “sensitive”, he referred to the committee that had been set up to ensure that prisoners who had completed their sentences in either country were released soon.

Congress member Rashid Alvi raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha, demanding a House resolution against the move to hang Sarabjit. He was supported by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of the BJP, who was critical of the Government’s “inaction” on the issue. Chairman Hamid Ansari assured the members that the Government would be asked to respond to the concerns of the members.