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UAE Court Verdict
In despair, families look to PM for help
Sarbjit Dhaliwal/TNS

Krishna’s directive New Delhi: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Thursday instructed officials in his ministry to assist 17 Indians on the death row in the UAE in filing an appeal and bear all the expenses thereof.

Jalandhar, April 1
In shock over the sentencing of their relatives to death in UAE for allegedly killing a Pakistani national, the families of 17 Punjabis have stepped up efforts to save them from the gallows. They have sought intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Muslim religious leaders.

Holding photographs of their dear ones, they put across their side of the story at a press conference by Lok Bhalai Party chief BS Ramoowalia.

No one is ready to believe that so many persons can be sentenced to death for allegedly killing a person of Pakistani origin. It is, perhaps, the first time that such a large number of persons have been sentenced to death for the murder of one person by any court in the world.

The Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) today appealed to various Muslim religious and social organisations to come forward to save the lives of 17 Punjabis. The party has also decided to send a three-member delegation to Sharjah to make arrangement for providing legal help to these persons. In fact, all 17 persons, except one, belonged to Punjab. The one who belonged to Haryana, is also a Punjabi.

President of the party Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, who has been requested by relatives of these persons to help them in saving the lives of their wards, said his party leaders, Avtar Singh Mullanpur, Amrik Singh and Sukhwinder Singh Brar, would soon leave for Sharjah to consult legal experts as regards steps required to be taken to save the 17 lives.

Ramoowalia has, on several occasions, come to the rescue of Punjabi youths in trouble abroad. “That is why we have approached him as we trust him in this regard,” said a close relative of one of the victims here today.

“We appeal to the Kul Hind Dar-ul-Ulum, the Tanzeem Wahabiat Hind, the All-India Sunni Hanafi Board and other Muslim organisations to use their influence at the international level to save the Punjabi men. Most of the family members were inconsolable. Ranjit Kaur, whose husband Dharampal is also one of the 17 Indians sentenced to death, is in a state of shock. She has two young children and belonged to Ferozepur.

Ramoowalia said he was convinced that the Union as well as the Punjab Government would not leave any stone unturned to save the 17 Punjabi lives.

He also urged the Prime Minister to direct the Union Law Ministry, the Attorney General and others concerned to take up the issue with the UAE head of the state through diplomatic channels.