India on Thursday reacted with anger and dismay on hearing the news of passing away of death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Lahore’s government-run JinnahHospital.
Sarabjit had been admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital with severe injuries to his head, neck and torso last Friday.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said it was “particularly regrettable” that Pakistan “did not heed the pleas to take a humanitarian view” of the case of Sarabjit Singh who died after being attacked in a Lahore jail.
“Particularly regrettable that the government of Pakistan did not heed the pleas to take a humanitarian view of this case,” tweeted Manmohan Singh after Sarabjit Singh died Thursday at Lahore’s Jinnah hospital.
“May his soul be granted the peace that he could not enjoy in life. The nation shares his family’s profound grief with them,” said another tweet.
A third tweet said that the government “will make the arrangements to bring his remains home and for his last rites to be conducted in consultation with his family”.
He also tweeted that the “criminals responsible for the barbaric and murderous attack on Sarabjit Singh must be brought to justice”.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said he was “extremely anguished” by the death of Sarabjit Singh following a brutal attack on him in a high-security jail.
“We are extremely anguished by the death” of the Indian prisoner, Khurshid told reporters when asked to react to the death of Singh.
In an official statement, Ministry Of External affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said: “It is with great anguish that we have received the news of the demise of Sarabjit Singh who has succumbed to injury after the brutal attack on him in a jail.”
“It was simply a killing of our citizen in jail. We demand the government of Pakistan should conduct a thorough investigation to identify those who are guilty,” he added.
“We have demanded that the Pakistani officials release his body so that he can be given funeral in India amongst his people,” Akbaruddin said.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi described Sarabjit’s death in a hospital in Lahore “condemnable”.
“We expect that at least now the Indian government will take some strict action,” Naqvi said.