Sarabjit may not benefit from proposal

Sarabjit Singh, is unlikely to benefit from the Govt’s proposal to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment as he was convicted for a terrorist act.

Sarabjit Singh, on death row in Pakistan, is unlikely to benefit from the government’s proposal to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment as he was convicted for a terrorist act.

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Only those not involved in crimes like terrorism, bombings and spreading sectarian hatred could benefit from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s recent announcement about asking President Pervez Musharraf to commute death sentences, sources in the interior ministry told the Daily Times newspaper.

Gilani made the announcement in parliament on the birth anniversary of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto on June 21.

Senior officials in Pakistan are now working to find a way to send Sarabjit, sentenced to death for alleged involvement in four bomb attacks that killed 14 people in 1990, back to India in exchange for Pakistani prisoners detained in Indian jails, sources said.

Upset with the Pakistan government’s decision, Dalbir Kaur, Sarabjit’s sister, said she would fight till the end.

Dalbir said she talked to former Pakistani human rights minister Ansar Burney, who told her to continue her efforts. “I will never give up and a day will come when Pakistani authorities have to change their decision in connection with Sarabjit,” she said. “I will go to meet the Pakistan foreign minister in Delhi on June 28. I will also talk to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader L K Advani to take up matter with Pakistan authorities.”