manash ghosh
KOLKATA, 1 JUNE: External Affairs minister Salman Khurshid has said the Union government made constant efforts, over a long period, to secure Sarabjit Singh&’s release from Pakistani jail but regrettably those efforts proved fruitless.
In a letter to Mr Saugata Roy, Mr Khurshid has said India repeatedly emphasised to Pakistan the need to take steps to ensure such incidents do not occur again. He reassured Mr Roy and said: “We will continue to do so through official discussions and through the mechanism of India-Pakistan Judicial committee. We have demanded Pakistan conduct a thorough investigation to identify those responsible for his (Sarabjit’s) killing and they be punished.”
Mr Khurshid&’s letter was in response to Mr Roy raising the issue of Sarabjit Singh&’s death in a Lahore jail as a matter of urgent public importance in Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament.
Appreciating Mr Roy&’s concern, Mr Khurshid said the Indian government took a number of steps from the time Sarabjit was attacked on 26 April last. His government reiterated its request to the Pakistan government to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view in Sarabjit’ case and immediately release him so he could be treated in India.
Alternatively it was suggested that Sarabjit be sent to a third country for proper medical treatment. The Indian High Commission in Islamabad immediately requested for consular access to Sarabjit which was granted at 2 a.m. the next day. The Indian High Commissioner also raised the issue strongly during his talks with the Pakistan foreign secretary on 30 April. The India-Pakistan Judicial Committee on prisoners which was in Pakistan in April visited Sarabjit in Jinnah Hospital.
The external affairs minister said the Indian government had been consistently working for his release and also to ensure his security and safety. In September last year, following reports about his alleged poisoning and mental torture, the Indian High Commission sought consular access to Sarabjit which was subsequently provided by Islamabad.
During the consular access it was observed Sarabjit was in good physical health. Request was made to the jail authorities to arrange for his complete medical check up. Sarabjit’s lawyer, on 16 October, sent a medical report of the Punjab government’s Home Department, which said his physical health was satisfactory and all vital functions were normal.
Mr Khurshid said on several occasions the Indian government had asked the Pakistan government to take a humanitarian view of the Sarabjit case. Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured him in New York in 2005 on the side lines of the UN General Assembly that he would consider granting clemency to Sarabjit on humanitarian grounds. The then external affairs minister, Mr Natwar Singh, took up the matter with the Pakistani High Commissioner in Delhi and also with President Musharraf during his visit to Islamabad in October 2005. Subsequently in March 2006, MEA had formally requested the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to treat Sarabjit&’s case sympathetically  and with compassion. Again the issue of his release was taken up during India-Pakistan home secretary-level talks held in Islamabad on 24 and 25 May last year. The matter was once more raised during foreign secretary level talks held in Delhi on 4 and 5 July last.
The former external affairs minister, Mr S M Krishna, during his meeting with Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari raised the issue of Sarabjit&’s release.  Mr Zardari had assured Sarabjit&’s case would be considered sympathetically. Later, the new Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar during her meeting with Mr Krishna on 8 September last year had assured the Indian request would be “positively considered” by the authorities concerned.
The matter was again taken up with Pakistan during the meeting between the Indian home minister and the visiting Pakistan interior minister Mr Rahman Malik in Delhi in December last year. That all these assurances were only false hopes, India realised after Sarabjit&’s death.