Sarabjit's sister sends mercy pleas to Musharraf

Amritsar, Apr 4: In a last ditch effort to save condemned Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh from the gallows, his sister Mrs Dalbir Kaur and elder daughter Swapandeep have sent a joint 'reham' (mercy) appeal to Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf.

The faxed message was sent from here to the office of the Pakistani President in Islamabad.

''A sister and daughter plead before you to have 'reham' on Sarabjit and consider the mercy petition pending before your goodself sympathetically'', the faxed message stated.'' You are the only person who can save Sarabjit, who has been wrongly implicated'', the message added.

The sister sought to remind the Pakistan President that last year when Sarabjit's case was mentioned to him by some Indian journalists, he had promised to consider it sympathetically. ''You are basically a person who shows compassion'', the message said while reminding President Musharraf of his public statement in this regard.

The mercy petition was sent to the Pakistan President last week by Sarabjit's lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid, who has been in constant touch with the condemned prisoners family on telephone.''Our lawyer is hopeful that the President will consider the mercy petition and remit the death sentence'', she said.

Mrs Dalbir Kaur who spoke to a leading Pakistani journalist last night on telephone said the mercy petition is likely to come up for hearing before the President in a day or two.

In the faxed message the sister and daughter have sought to remind the Pakistan President that he was a responsible man and above all a human being who understood the sufferings of others.

''You are in a position to pardon Sarabjit without having to take advice from anyone'', the message added.

Claiming that Sarabjit was innocent, the message said that Sarabjit's case was a genuine one and pardon should be granted. ''Your decision can save him or send him to the gallows'', the message said. Sarabjit was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court a few years back in a bomb blast case. He is currently lodged in a jail near Lahore. His first review petition before the Pakistan Supreme Court was rejected in February this year following which the mercy petition was filed before General Musharraf last week.

In another faxed message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the sister and daughter have again urged the Prime Minister to talk directly to the Pakistan President on Sarabjit's case. ''It is the right time to have a heart-to-heart talk as Gen Musharraf will be taking a decision soon on the mercy petition'', the message to the PM stated.

The faxed message reminded the PM that he had promised to take up Sarabjit's case with the Pakistan Government when Mrs Dalbir Kaur along with Swapandeep and Poonam, the younger daughter of Sarabjit met him here on March 24.

General Musharraf is expected to act on the petition after the Supreme Court delivers its judgement on Sarabjit's second review petition involving three other bomb blast cases in which he is an accused.

Meanwhile the Bar Association of Patti have sent a memorandum signed by all its members to the President of India A P J Abdul Kalam urging him to take-up the Sarabjit case with the Pakistan government.

UNI