Gurdaspur, August 26
Sarabjit Singh might not be the only Indian to be hanged in Pakistan. Fear stalks families of other Indian residents who are in Pakistani jails and face charges of spying.
One such case has come up in Musafabad village 10 km from Gurdaspur. Kirpal Singh, a resident of the village, has been in Pakistani jail for the past 15 years.
In letters written from jail to his sister-in-law now living in the villages, Kirpal Singh has said that he also had been awarded death sentence
by a Pakistani court on the suspicion that he was an agent of the Indian intelligence agencies.
The Pakistani government has framed a law to award death sentence to all outsiders in the country who are
found to be agents of intelligence agencies of other countries. Kirpal Singh has stated in his letter. He has
also claimed that Sarabjit Singh who is now in news was his cell mate.
He has urged his kin to take up his case with the Prime Minister of India to secure his release. The sister-in-law of Kirpal Singh told reporters that they had been receiving his letters since long.
However, we had no hope
so we did not pursue the matter. Now that the matter of Sarabjit has been highlighted by media and government has taken keen interest,
we also want to present the case of Kirpal Singh before the government. The government should also take the case of Kirpal Singh
with the Pakistani government, she said.
She also told that the family of Kirpal Singh has already suffered much since he was caught in Pakistan. His newly wed wife left the house after losing hope of his return. His parents have died waiting for the return of their son. With the public pressure
now being generated, a faint hope has risen among his family that he might escape the gallows.
David is another resident of Dadwan village near Dhariwal who is in Pakistani jail for the last seven years.
His
elder son Lucky when contacted told that they regularly used to receive letters from their father. However, since last two years there has been no correspondence. We fear that he might also be hanged as he was apprehended as a spy by the Pakistan security agencies.
The family of Sunil Phuli, a resident Dadwan village, who is in Pakistani jail for past six years is also in panic. His wife and mother work as housemaids to make both ends meet. Poor and illiterate wife of Sunil told that she heard about the case of Sarabjit. We want that the government should take up the case of Sunil also who has been jailed on the charges of espionage
in Pakistan.
Raju, a resident of Trijanagar village, near Dhariwal was said to be in Pakistan’s jail for past 15 years. His entire family has left the area after the sole bread-winner failed to come back.
