Govt should ensure death sentence against Jadhav not carried

Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Pakistan jail in 2013, has said that India should approach the International Court of Justice and ensure that the death sentence awarded to Kulbhushan Jadhav by Pakistani establishment is not carried out.

"Our government should take appropriate steps. They should appeal in the international court of justice and seek stay," Kaur told PTI over phone while reacting on the Pakistan army court's verdict.

India should take every necessary step to ensure that Jadhav's death sentence is not carried out, she said.

"Even if I assume for a minute that Jadhav was an agent, still does he deserve death sentence. There are many Pakistani nationals lodged in our jails who are charged with serious crimes, does this mean they too should be given the same treatment. The 2000 Red Fort attack case convict was a Pakistani national, but was he hanged?" she asked.
 

About Jadhav, she said, "just because he is an Indian, he has been given death sentence. This shows the hatred and enmity which Pakistan harbours towards India".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak about this to his Pakistani counterpart, she said.

Having lost her brother four years back in Pakistan, Kaur said she could fully understand what Jadhav's family must be going through at this hour.

"I am with the family. They should immediately meet the Prime Minister. My full support is with Jadhav's family and I can accompany them if they go and meet the PM," she said.

Jadhav was "arrested" on March 3 last year by Pakistan security officials in Baluchistan after he entered from Iran. He has been accused by Pakistan of planning "subversive activities" in the country.

India has acknowledged Jadhav as a retired Indian Navy officer, but denied the allegation that he was in any way connected to the government.

Pakistan's powerful army chief today approved the execution of Jadhav after a military court found him guilty of "involvement in espionage and sabotage activities".

Kaur's brother Sarabjit had died following an attack on him by inmates of a Lahore prison in April 2013. He was convicted for terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court and sentenced to death in 1991. However, the government had stayed his execution for an indefinite period in 2008.