 NEW DELHI - India will make all efforts to stop the execution of one of its nationals in Pakistan for spying, lawmakers said on Tuesday, as pressure mounted on New Delhi to save the man his family claims is a farmer. New Delhi was in touch with Islamabad over the issue and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised lawmakers he would speak to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to try and stop the execution, they said.
| 'cause the Paks listen to anything a Hindu gummint man says ... |
Manmohan Singhâs assurance came a day after family members of the convicted man threatened to kill themselves if the execution was carried out.
| I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense ... |
The threat evoked widespread sympathy and lawmakers from the northern Indian state of Punjab, the home of the convicted man, urged the government to save him.
Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said New Delhi âwould try its bestâ to stop the death penalty from being carried out. âHe said that the government has spoken to Pakistani authorities,â Avinash Rai Khanna, opposition lawmaker from Punjab, said after meeting Natwar Singh along with Dalbir Kaur, sister of the convicted man. âThe government will use a mercy petition to get Sarabjit released or through diplomatic means such as government-to-government talks,â he said.
| Got any Pak spies in jug? We and the USSR knew how to handle this back in the old days of the Cold War ... |
Indian media reported that Pakistanâs Supreme Court last week upheld the death sentence for Manjit Singh for spying for Indiaâs intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, and being involved in five bombings in Pakistan. His family insists Singh is not a spy and has appealed to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to spare his life.
His sister Kaur says the manâs name is actually Sarabjit Singh, a farmer who lived in a village in the northern state of Punjab, who accidentally wandered into Pakistan in 1990. âMy brother used to work in the field near the border. In those days, there were no barbed wire fences and he accidentally went across when he was drunk,â she said after meeting the Indian foreign minister.
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