Topic of the week for discussion: 2nd to 8th May 2013 Topic: Attack on Sarabjit Singh Mr. Sarabjit Singh is an Indian National who was convicted and sentenced to death by a court in Pakistan in 1991 for his alleged involvement in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. He has been in solitary confinement for over 19 years in a small cramp cell without insufficient space for him to stand upright. Until the recent intervention of a human rights group from Canada, Mr. Sarabjit Singh remained shackled in his cell. Mr. Sarabjit Singh has maintained his innocence from the outset. He continues to maintain he is farmer from a village near Amritsar in the Punjab, married with two daughters both of whom were toddlers at the time of his arrest. Mr. Sarabjit Singh’s Sister Mrs. Dalbir Kaur has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of her brother since his arrest and continues to do so to date. Mr. Singh does not have the benefit of a legal team in India. His current lawyer in Pakistan is Mr. Awais Sheikh who is a human rights lawyer . The original mercy petition was filed by the previous lawyer and was rejected by President Pervaiz Musharaf on the grounds- it was out of the statutory limitation period. Mr. Sheikh has filed a fresh petition with the President Asif Ali Zardari, immediately after review petition was dismissed in Supreme Court following the failure of the previous lawyer to attend the hearing. The mercy petition lodged by Mr. Sheikh is currently waiting to be determined Topic by President Asif Ali Zardari. A letter written by Sarabjit Singh praying for mercy (handed over to Mr. Sheikh at his recent meeting with Mr. Sarabjit Singh Introduction in Jail) has been annexed to the mercy petition together with the letter from his sister Mrs. Dalvir Kaur in support of the mercy petition. Mr. Sheikh has continued to passionately defend and highlight Mr. Singh’s plight in the media. Mr. Sheikh has waived his legal fee. The attack occurred when Singh and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for an hour-long break. The sister of Indian national Sarabjit Singh Friday termed the attack on him in a Lahore jail as a conspiracy" and said that she had "expressed fear" that he would be "attacked by the jail inmates who had been threatening him ever since Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab were hanged". She said she had approached the Indian authorities but no action was taken. "Sarabjit had told his counsel in Pakistan Awais Sheikh that inmates at Kot Lakhpat jail had threatened to kill him saying that his country had hanged Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab," Dalbir Kaur said. The two prisoners assaulted Sarabjit with blunt objects and he sustained a severe head injury. Unnamed officials of Kot Lakhpat Jail were quoted by Pakistani TV news channels as saying that only two prisoners - Amer Aftab and Mudassar - were involved in the attack. Sarabjit was initially taken to the hospital within the prison. After his condition worsened, he was moved in an ambulance to Jinnah Hospital, officials in Lahore said. A CT scan was performed on Sarabjit and doctors were scheduled to perform a surgery, official sources said. "Singh suffered a serious head injury and we are going to operate on him to save his life," a senior doctor said. The superintendent and assistant superintendent of Kot Lakhpat Jail and personnel deputed to guard Sarabjit were suspended after the incident , TV news channels reported. Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told the media that officials of Kot Lakhpat Jail were probing the incident. Chaudhry said the Foreign Office was examining a request from the Indian High Commission seeking consular access to Sarabjit. Under pressure, Pakistan later granted India High Commission officials’ consular access to Sarabjit Singh, reports said. Officials of Kot Lakhpat Jail, however, refused to speak to the media, saying they were not authorized to comment on the matter. Journalists were barred from approaching the ward in which Sarabjit was being treated in Jinnah Hospital. Police commandos and intelligence operatives were deployed to guard the ward. Meanwhile, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said in Kazakhstan, where he is accompanying External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on a visit, that India has sought consular access. "India has contacted Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Pakistan for ascertaining the facts. Two officers have been sent to Lahore for consular access and we are awaiting response. We are in touch with the Foreign Ministry and the Presidency," Akbaruddin said. Owais Sheikh, Sarabjit's lawyer said, "Yes, this is very much disturbing. This is not something that we can ignore. Naturally, this will have very serious consequences. "Whatever has happened, our jail authorities are responsible for that. Hope God saves Sarabjit Singh. He has been seriously hurt". Human Rights activist Ansar Burney said, "I am going to file another mercy petition to Pakistan President to immediately release him and send him to India". The Kot Lakhpat jail currently has some 17,000 prisoners though its official capacity is only 4,000. There have been instances in the past of prisoners being attacked and even killed within the prison. Authorities had tightened Sarabjit's security after the recent execution in India of Afzal Guru, who was convicted of involvement in the 2001 terror attack on the Indian parliament. Sarabjit was convicted for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Punjab province that killed 14 people in 1990. Amid fears that Ajmal Kasab's hanging will have an impact on the fate of Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh, his lawyer Awais Sheikh said on Wednesday that the two cases can't be equated. Sheikh told TOI over phone from Lahore that Sarabjit's case was that of mistaken identity. "He is Sarabjit Singh and not Manjit Singh on whose name he was booked, whereas Kasab was caught committing the crime and was on camera. Islamabad had admitted that Kasab used Pakistani soil for executing the Mumbai terror attack," Sheikh said. He said the general perception in Pakistan was that Sarabjit Singh was involved in a serial blast in Lahore and Kasur in 1990. Read further: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-22/india/35302279_1_sarabjit-singh-fate-of- indian-prisoner-awais-sheikh http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/sarabjit-singh-attacked-in-lahore-s-kot-lakhpaj- jail_844896.html http://freesarabjitsingh.com/?p=22 .