TWO important issues in Sarabjit's case" 1) Identity - the Pak police are after one Manjit Singh who is linked, in their file, to the train explosions that killed 14 people. Sarabjit says, he never used that name in Pak or in India 2) Detailed examination of Sarabjit's defence - it seems the Pak courts did not give adequate weight to his defence.
Ansar Burney came to India, met the relevant people, like Sarabjit's family, examined the family's photos and other evidence to confirm Sarabjit's defence. Mr. Burney is an intelligent man, he wd not have taken up the case without checking it out for himself. Benefit of the doubt should be given to Sarabjit - at least to reduce his death sentence to life imprisonment. He has already spent, I read, 17 years in a miserable Pak. jail. Now in Afzal Guru's case there is no such issues as to identity or whether he was part of the team that attacked India's Parliament. The Indian S.Ct has gone into the matter thoroughly. What complicated Sarabjit's case are two events: On being released Kashmiri Singh said he was an Indian agent in Pak. For some reason the media in Pak said their govt., has been fooled. Kashmiri Singh served nearly 30 years in jail, I think. A good punishemnet for a spy. Second, a Pakistani person, who disappeared after coming to see cricket match here was caught and jailed. Unfortunately, he died in an Indian jail. It is not alleged that he died because of ill-treatment. But the Pak. media have played this up.
