Sarabjit Singh is precariously ill and under ventilator support at the Jinnah hospital at Lahore. His immediate family is at the hospital premises, perplexed by the games Pakistan seems to be playing in the name of diplomacy. They've spurned India's request for his transfer to this country for better medical management.
Sarabjit has been on the death row since 1991. He'd raised alarm about his life being unsafe in the jail after the hanging of Afzal Guru and had conveyed his concerns to the jail authorities - was it a premonition or did he see it coming, what with the sustained hostility and intimidation from the other inmates! He was attacked with bricks and other sharp objects which had caused serious injuries resulting in him being comatose.
And diplomatic games are being played with scant thought to the finer feelings of the immediate family. Is his life that insignificant to be ignored? And why's Pakistan doing this again and again - is it because it knows that we follow the spirit of the Geneva convention, to the last letter? We're once again reduced to being helpless spectators while a rogue state is taking us to ransom.
And on the Chinese border, we're witness to the second pantomime. The latest sitrep is that they've pitched a fifth tent, 19 kms deep into our territory at Ladakh. One can only term it as audacious provocation! I was particularly amused with a statement made in one of the newspapers and I quote, "However, no aggressive moves have been made by either side at the stand-off point". The hollowness of the statement rings loud against the fact that the Chinese are deep within our territory by 19 kms!!
Tailpiece.
I'm sure the government will bring about a solution thanks to the hectic parleys that are being undertaken at the military and the diplomatic levels.
PS.
Sarabjit was convicted of spying for India and involvement in a series of bomb blasts(trumped up charges? We'd never know) in 1990 and was housed in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail. His life must have been miserable!
Sarabjit has been on the death row since 1991. He'd raised alarm about his life being unsafe in the jail after the hanging of Afzal Guru and had conveyed his concerns to the jail authorities - was it a premonition or did he see it coming, what with the sustained hostility and intimidation from the other inmates! He was attacked with bricks and other sharp objects which had caused serious injuries resulting in him being comatose.
And diplomatic games are being played with scant thought to the finer feelings of the immediate family. Is his life that insignificant to be ignored? And why's Pakistan doing this again and again - is it because it knows that we follow the spirit of the Geneva convention, to the last letter? We're once again reduced to being helpless spectators while a rogue state is taking us to ransom.
And on the Chinese border, we're witness to the second pantomime. The latest sitrep is that they've pitched a fifth tent, 19 kms deep into our territory at Ladakh. One can only term it as audacious provocation! I was particularly amused with a statement made in one of the newspapers and I quote, "However, no aggressive moves have been made by either side at the stand-off point". The hollowness of the statement rings loud against the fact that the Chinese are deep within our territory by 19 kms!!
Tailpiece.
I'm sure the government will bring about a solution thanks to the hectic parleys that are being undertaken at the military and the diplomatic levels.
PS.
Sarabjit was convicted of spying for India and involvement in a series of bomb blasts(trumped up charges? We'd never know) in 1990 and was housed in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail. His life must have been miserable!
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