After the crossing over the India border with his wife Begam Shaheen Burney & son at the Attari check-post, Burney advocated joint repatriation of prisoners of both countries who had been languishing in jails even after the completion of their sentence. However, he said he had no sympathy for the terrorists in any part of the world who killed innocent persons.
Ansar Burney said, “I shall submit summary of the evidence collected from Dalbir Kaur, sister of sarabjit, to the President of Pakistan”. Burney had already urged the new government in Pakistan to consider convecting sarabjit Singh’s death sentence into life imprisonment on “humanitarian grounds”. He also said that the request was being made as Sarabjit has “spent more than a life sentence on the death row in Pakistan jails”.
Burney said, “At one time I had dropped the idea of visiting Bhihiwind amid reports that there was division in the family of Sarabjit. However, I changed my mind on the request of public relations minister Bikram Singh Majithia who request that i must visit the place”.
To a question that second witness Shaukat ali had denied the hand of Sarabjit in the bomb blasts pakistan in 1991, Burney said he might also meet the eyewitness who turned hostile in this high-profile case. Shaukat Ali, whose father was killed in the blast, had stated that he was asked to name Sarabjit as the person he had seen planting an explosive device in a cinema hall.
Meanwhile, Burney advocated opening of Wagah border like “the fall of the Berlin Wall”. He said both countries should do away the visa system so that the people could meet without any border hassles.
Burney also said that he will meet Chief Minister prakash Singh badal for extended him personal invitation to visit Amritsar & other parts of India. He will also meet Prime Minister manmohan Singh Ji to discuss the plight of both countries. It is reported that nearly 47 prisoners are in Punjab’s high security jails. They have even completed their sentence.
To a question Burney said the prisoners of wars, lodged in pakistani jails, should also be released at the earliest. He said it was Majithia who was instrumental in sending all the documents to the Pakistani authorities, required for the release of Kashmir Singh. He, however, ruled that the statement given by Kashmir Singh that he was an Indian spy & had crossed the Radcliff Line had made his position dicey at home. Burney said, “The judges should take up the role of lawyers whenever they come across any case relating to hangings so that innocent persons should not died for want of evidence”.
A private newspaper reported that Quoting the Pakistan media, Ansar Burney said he was dubbed as “Sardar Burney Singh” when kashmir announced that he was an Indian spy. Burney also said, “I myself knew that kashmir Singh was an indian spy, but I worked to release on humanitarian grounds because he had already spent 35 years in a death cell”. He, however, said he would like to visit kashmir Singh to see him leading a new life.
Earlier, the Pakistan government delayed the execution of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh by 30 days. Sarabjit Singh was set to be hanged on April 1 following his conviction for alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990.
Sarabjit Singh was sentenced to death in 1991 for his alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Lahore & Multan that killed 14 people. His family denies he is a spy as claimed by Pakistan & insists he accidentally strayed into Pakistani territory.
The mercy petition of Sarabjit, who Pakistan claims is Manjit Singh, was rejected by Musharraf on March 3. Sarabjit’s mercy petition was sent to Musharraf along with that of Indian prisoner Kashmir Singh, who was pardoned & freed after spending 35 years on death row in Pakistani jails.
