Sarabjit Singh Biography 
Sarabjit Singh is an Indian civilian from Punjab who was falsely convicted of terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court and sentenced to death, soon after he was caught in Pakistan border in 1990. He was drunk and crossed the border when he was caught by Pakistani military. He was tried and convicted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan for a series of bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad which took 14 innocent lives.
Despite repeated attempts from Indian government and his family members, especially from his sister Dalbir Kaur’s side, efforts were not enough to free him from Pakistan. He was repeatedly tortured inside Pakistan jails for years and was attacked in his jail cell by Pakistani prisoners soon after Afzal Guru was hang in India in 2013. He succumbed to death and it still remains a controversial topic. All the efforts to bring him to India went futile. A film titled Sarabjit was made in Bollywood in 2016 where the titular role was played by Randeep Hooda and his sister’s role by Aishwarya Rai.
Sarabjit Singh hailed from Bhikhiwind, Punjab, and he was born in 1963/1964 into a poor family. His village is located along the Indo-Pakistani border. Wrestling was his favourite hobby and he loved doves. He took care of rare pigeons. He worked in fields to earn a living. He married Sukhpreet Kaur and had two daughters. His sister, Dalbir Kaur stayed with the family after a broken marriage. Later there were claims that Dalbir was not his real sister, and his real sister is Baljinder Kaur.
On a fatal day he was caught by Pakistan Rangers near Kasur on an unmarked area in Indo-Pakistani border on 30 August 1990. Though his supporters claim that he was only a poor farmer caught for mistaken identity, it was not believed by Pakistan. He was drunk and had strayed over the border, when he was caught. Though his family searched for his whereabouts, they couldn’t get any information for long 9 months. Later they received a letter from Pakistan, informing them that he had been arrested in Pakistan as Manjit Singh, a man accused of bomb blasts. He managed to throw a paper, found by a person later and he sent it to his home in Punjab.
In 1991 Singh was given the death sentence under Pakistan's Army Act, and High Court Division & Appeallate Division upheld it. Supreme Court dismissed a petition to review his death sentence in March 2006. On 27 June 2012, President Asif Ali Zardari signed a document commuting Singh's death sentence to life in prison. A life sentence in Pakistan generally lasts 14 years, and by that time Sarabjit Singh spent 22 years in jail. So obviously he was to get released. But later Pakistani government announced that the name of the prisoner to be released would be Surjeet Singh, not Sarabjit Singh. By that time the case had received enough media attention. The family met him at Lahore jail in 2008, for the first time after 18 years.
After his conviction in 1991, several mercy petitions were filed by Singh's lawyers. Singh was attacked on 26 April 2013 allegedly by other prisoners. He was admitted to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore in critical condition with severe head injuries and was placed in ventilator. Some sources indicated that the attack was planned after Afzal Guru's execution in India. On 29 April 2013, India appealed to Pakistan to release Sarabjit Singh on humanitarian grounds, but the plea was rejected. On 1 May 2013 he was declared brain dead by doctors at Jinnah Hospital, and it was reported he died the following day. Later his dead body was brought to India. An autopsy in India revealed that vital organs were missing from his body and his skull was broken into two pieces.
Published: October 06, 2018
Updated: October 06, 2018
