New Delhi: Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights Ansar Burney has drawn a clear distinction between Sarabjit Singh's case and that of Kashmir Singh - who he recently helped return home after 35 years in a Pakistan jail.
Burney said that Sarabjit has been convicted for bomb blasts and he (Burney) had no sympathy for him.
"Sarabjit Singh is a terrorist. I have no sympathy with Sarabjit Singh. There is a big difference between Kashmir Singh and Sarabjit Singh. Sarabjit Singh is accused of martyring many people here, and I have no sympathies with terrorists. If they release Pakistanis, if my Pakistani brothers come back to their country, then we will think about it," Burney said.
Burney also said that Kashmir Singh, who was sent back to India on March 4 after spending 35 years on death row, because he had paid for his "crime".
Sources in Islamabad have also confirmed that India had warned Pakistan that hanging Sarabjit would vitiate bilateral relations.
India is looking forward to dealing with the new government that will be formed in Pakistan and is looking forward to the next round of the composite dialogue
Earlier Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Badal that the government is in touch with the Pakistan authorities on the issue.
The PM wrote a letter to the Punjab CM assuring him that the government has taken the issue at the "highest level" with Pakistan and added that all possible efforts were being made to seek a reprieve for Sarabjit.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also spoke on the Sarabjit Singh issue in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
"According to press reports, the black warrant has been issued and the sentence will be carried out on April 1. Our High Commission in Islamabad has sought details from the Government of Pakistan. It is in this context and in the same spirit that we appeal to the Government of Pakistan to treat Sarabjit Singh's case with clemency on humanitarian grounds," Mukherjee said.
Information & Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said it was finally upto the Prime Minister to negotiate the matter.
"I will convey the feelings of the House to the PM and it is then upto him only to negotiate the matter as he is doing so every day and every minute," he said.
Sarabjit has been sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in the 1990 bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that claimed 14 lives and is presently lodged in a Lahore prison.
His mercy petition has already been rejected by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and he is likely to be hanged on April 1.
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