On November 21, Ajmal Kasab, 25, the lone terrorist captured alive after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was hanged in the storied Yerwada jail of Pune. A painful chapter in India’s recent history has come to an end, finally.
This was the first capital sentence carried out in India since murder convict Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged at a Kolkata jail in August 2004.
Pakistan was quick to disown Kasab despite his well-recorded origins. Few tears were shed for Kasab in his native country, at least publicly and officially. However, a commander of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, blamed for the Mumbai attacks, labelled Kasab a hero and said he would inspire more attacks.
Arguably, the bigger question is: what will happen to Sarabjit Singh, who is languishing in Pakistan jail for over two decades? Will Kasab’s hanging delay the prospect of his early release? Will the Pakistan government please its radical masters, who are seeking execution of his death punishment.
Media reports say Pakistani hardliners want a tit-for-tat response to avenge Kasab’s death. The extremist groups are against any clemency to him.
On September, 7, 2012, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari assured India that he will consider the case of the Indian prisoner.
Sarabjit, now 49, was convicted and sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Lahore and Multan in 1990 that killed 14 people.
Sarabjit, a resident of Tarn Taran in Punjab, had said he had crossed the border into Pakistan in an inebriated state. He had maintained that his case was one of mistaken identity.
In June 2012, Bollywood star Salman Khan sought people and media’s support for Sarabjit’s release.
Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju has said Sarabjit's name was not even in the FIR related to the Lahore Bomb blast in 1990 for which he has been convicted.
The following is a chronology of how the case has moved so far:
Aug 30, 1990: Sarabjit Singh arrested at Kasur border for illegally crossing Indo-Pak border.
October 3, 1991: Singh sentenced to death on October 3, 1991 for bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that killed 14 people.
December 27, 2001: Pakistan high court dismisses his appeal.
2007: Pak Supreme Court of Pakistan confirms his death sentence.
April 30, 2008: Sarabjit’s execution fixed for this date, but indefinitely deferred on intervention of Pak Prime Minister.
June 24, 2009: His review petition dismissed by the Supreme Court on default on non-appearance of lawyer.
May 28, 2012: Sarabjit files fifth mercy petition before Pakistan President.
June 26, 2012: Pakistan President’s office claims ‘confusion’ over clemency to death-row prisoner Sarabjit, says another Indian prisoner would be released, crushing the hope of Sarabjit’s relatives.
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