His 23-year-long wait to reunite with his family members did not succeed, as Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh breathed his last at Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital at around 12:45 AM. Sarabjit could not be revived from the deep coma because of the grievous injury he suffered during the assault.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have condoled the death of Sarabjit. Mr. Shinde met the bereaved family and assured all help to bring his body back to India. A special plane may be dispatched to get Sarabjit’s body once the postmortem is over.
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There is a massive outrage across the country over government’s soft approach towards Pakistan, which resulted in Sarabjit’s death. The BJP has demanded strong action against Pakistan and asked the government to declare Sarabjit a martyr. The party also asked the government to cremate him with full state honours.
The Punjab government has offered jobs to the Sarabjit’s daughters and assured full help to the bereaved family. Sarabjit Singh, who crossed over to Pakistan 23 year ago, was convicted of spying and bomb blast. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was stayed later. Even though it was a case of mistaken identity, Pakistan always ignored India’s requests to release Sarabjit. Finally, he was killed by the butchers of Pakistan in a high-security jail.