VHP activists threaten to protest outside UAE Embassy over death sentence row

Chandigarh, Apr 4 (ANI): The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists in Chandigarh have threatened to protest outside the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy if the 17 Indians who have been sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani national in UAE, are not released.

The leaders of the Punjab Vishwa Hindu Parishad gathered in Chandigarh, and appealed the Central Government to ensure justice for the 17 Indians.

"We appeal the government to talk to UAE Government to protect Indian boys and help them.

The boys should come back to India. We protest against the Islamic minded Sharia laws," said Vijay Bhardwaj, president of the VHP Chandigarh unit.

"We also urge Muslim community to protest against this decision of the UAE Government," he added.

"We will take a common decision after a meeting in Haridwar on April 8. We will wait and see what steps the government takes till then. After that we will assemble outside UAE embassy in India, till they are sent out of the country," Sukhpal Singh, General Secretary, VHP Chandigarh unit.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has assured full support to the 17 Indians sentenced to death in UAE.

The Indian consulate in Sharjah has been talking to prominent lawyers of UAE for legal aid assistance for seventeen Indians on a death row.

Government sources said that the authorities in Sharjah have been meeting prominent lawyers to seek their assistance and the appeal to the higher court will be made within the prescribed period of two weeks from the date of judgment by the lower court.

The Indians are pleading innocence and they are in good health, the sources confirmed.

Earlier, relatives of the seventeen Indians on a death row, who are mainly from Punjab, have demanded Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's intervention in rescuing them from the gallows.

Relatives claim that the convicts are being framed. (ANI)