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Sarabjit Singh's lawyer takes refuge in Sweden
[Dawn] Awais Sheikh, the counsel for Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh who was murdered in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail in May 2013, has taken permanent refuge in Sweden, the Times of India reported.Sheikh took refuge in the Scandinavian country following his alleged abduction bid near Lahore a day before Singh's death. Singh, who was sentenced to death 16 years ago on espionage charges, died at Lahore's Jinnah hospital after lying in a comatose state for five days following an assault on him in Kot Lakhpat jail. Sheikh and his son Shahrukh were allegedly kidnapped from their Bedian Road farm on May 16 and were released three and half hours later. Sheikh was known for fighting cases of Indian prisoners in Pak jails and had also written a book on the life of Singh titled 'Mistaken Identity'. Speaking to the TOI over telephone from Sweden on Monday, Sheikh said: "Sweden has granted me permanent stay along with my family and has also provided me all facilities and security after taking note of my abduction and physical torture." The lawyer claimed that his life was under constant threat in Pakistain from people and organizations "inimical to India-Pak friendship". In his interview with the TOI, Sheikh mentioned a letter written by Zohra Yusuf, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistain, on May 3 to Najam Sethi, who was the caretaker chief minister of Punjab at the time, for providing security to the counsel and his family. Sheikh claimed that the letter was ignored by the provincial authorities. Sheikh did not elaborate as to what he was doing in Sweden "except that he was just settling in the new place", adding that however, his family felt secure in the Scandinavian country. Prisoners of war During the telephone interview, Sheikh, who also heads an NGO called "Pakistain-India Peace Initiatives", quoted an incident of meeting a 1971 prisoner of war (PoW) Sepoy Mangal Singh of 14 Punjab Regiment in Central Jail, Lahore. Sheikh said his intention in referring to Mangal Singh's case was not to defame Pakistain but to remind and convince both countries "to realise their moral and international obligations and free all POWs with immediate effect". Islamabad has always denying the presence of any PoWs in Pak jails. In 2008, the then federal minister for human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , Ansar Burney, had told news hounds that the Indian High Commissioner had handed him a list of around 100 missing Indian PoWs in Pak jails and that the Pak government was working to resolve the issue. Also in May this year, Burney had written to Prime Minister  Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... to conduct a probe on whether there were any Indian PoWs in Pak jails. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... no development on the issue has since come to light. At the end of the 1971 war, New Delhi and Islamabad signed the Simla Agreement under which the countries were obliged to release soldiers that had been taken as PoWs. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... to date, there have been reports that both countries continue to hold some PoWs that had not been released. Posted by: Fred 2013-10-01 |
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