British lawyer blames India for Sarabjit's fate

British lawyer of Indian origin Jas Uppal Thursday put the blame on the successive Indian governments for Sarabjit Singh's fate in Pakistan, saying she has reported the death row prisoner's case to global human rights groups.

Uppal, who has highlighted the case of human rights violation of a martyr of Kargil conflict, said Indian governments in the last over two decades should have confronted Pakistan authorities over the death-row prisoner's arrest.

"It is an absolute tragedy that those who could did nothing over the last 24 years (sic) since Sarabjit Singh's original capture," Uppal told IANS in a message via email.

Sarabjit Singh died in a Lahore hospital early Thursday, bringing an end to a 23-year saga that began on a fateful August day in 1990 when he crossed over to Pakistan. He was brutally beaten and wounded by fellow inmates in jail last week.

Uppal said: "It is not only the assailants that were culpable for the final attack but also, the successive Indian governments failed to intervene and confront the Pakistan authorities."

She said she had reported Sarabjit Singh's case to international human rights organisations and raised the issue in Britain.

"My thoughts are with his sister Dalbir Kaur, his wife Sukhpreet Kaur, and his daughters Swapan and Poonam," she added.

Uppal has also launched an international campaign to highlight the plight of Captain Saurabh Kalia, who was allegedly tortured before being killed, along with five other soldiers, in the 1999 Kargil conflict in Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan.

She is demanding the blacklisting of Pakistan for the purpose of giving international aid.