Amritsar: The newly-appointed lawyer representing Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner on death row in Pakistan on terrorism charges, is confident of his client being pardoned now after collecting over 100,000 signatures on mercy petitions from Indians.
Owais Sheikh, who is here to meet Sarabjit`s family members and carry back mercy petitions to Pakistan, told IANS: "I am amazed to see the response of Indian people who have come forward in huge numbers to support Sarabjit. This is all very overwhelming and we want the Pakistan judiciary to seriously reconsider its verdict."
"Till now I have got over 100,000 signatures on mercy petitions from people all across this country. I am sure this number will go up in the next few days during my stay here," he said.
Sheikh, who is also president of Islamabad-based Pakistan-India Peace Initiative, is expected to meet Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in a couple of days to discuss Sarabjit`s case.
"I had appealed to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, seeking an appointment with him, so that I can personally deliver these mercy petitions to him and tell him about the circumstances of India. I am pretty confident that he would certainly grant pardon to Sarabjit," Sheikh said.
Pakistan`s Supreme Court had rejected Sarabjit`s mercy petition June 24 after his former lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid failed to appear in the court despite being specifically directed to do so.
Sarabjit`s family claims he had crossed into Pakistan inadvertently in Aug 1990 in an inebriated state and was arrested there.
But police in Pakistan claim Sarabjit, who has been languishing in Pakistani jails for over 19 years, was involved in acts of terrorism. He has been convicted for two bombings in Lahore and Multan that left 14 people dead and many injured in 1990.
Sarabjit`s family claims that it is a case of mistaken identity and has sought his release. His family, including two young daughters, met him last year at Lahore`s Kot Lakhpat jail.
"I had a meeting of over one hour with Sarabjit July 6. I talked to him in detail about his case and there are many unexplored points that favour us. We have appealed for reopening the case in Pakistan`s Supreme Court and have sent a separate mercy petition to Zardari," Sheikh said.
The lawyer pointed out that there is a provision in Pakistan law, where a death sentence can be converted into life imprisonment if the prisoner has spent a certain number of years in jail.
"We would try to use that option in this case as he has already spent nearly 19 years in jail," he said.
Sarabjit`s family in Punjab is upbeat about Sheikh being appointed his lawyer.
"Now President Zardari is the only hope for us and we have full belief in Sheikh-sahib. We have submitted all proof like Sarabjit`s school certificates to him so that he can prove his true identity in Pakistan courts," Dalbir Kaur, Sarabjit`s sister, said.
Asked about the signature campaign, she said: "We conducted this campaign in towns of various states including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. This is our desperate attempt to save Sarabjit`s life."
Said Poonamjit Kaur, Sarabjit`s daughter: "Our family has suffered a lot due to this wrong identity case. My father is innocent and we want him back amidst us at the earliest. Now after meeting Sheikh-sahib, I am sure we will get justice."
Sarabjit was to have been hanged April 1, 2008, but the authorities deferred his hanging after Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sought to examine the issue.
The Indian government had also intervened last year to get Sarabjit`s hanging postponed by taking up the matter diplomatically.
IANS
