Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who was attacked in Jammu jail, dies in hospital // Sarabjit Singh's death raises some vital questions for politicians

By Dilip -
Chandigarh: Sanaullah Ranjay, the 52-year-old Pakistani prisoner who was attacked by another inmate in a Jammu jail last week, died due to multiple organ failure at a Chandigarh hospital at 7 this morning. Pakistan has requested India to make arrangements to send his body back to his country.  The prisoner was brought to Chandigarh's Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in an air ambulance in critical condition on May 3, after being hit on the head by a fellow inmate at the high-security Kot Balwal jail in Jammu. His post-mortem will be conducted at 11:30 am.
 
The attack on Sanaullah happened a day after Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh died in Pakistan. Mr Singh was brutally attacked by six prisoners in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail last month. Jammu jail authorities said the prisoner who attacked Sanaullah was close to him and that they had an altercation. But Pakistan called the attack on Sanaullah an "obvious retaliation" to Sarabjit Singh's death and had demanded his repatriation for treatment at home. The jail superintendent was suspended and an inquiry is on. 

Offering "sincere apology" to the family of Sanaullah, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a tweet this morning, "While the inquiry will fix responsibility for any dereliction of duty, the fact that this happening at all is a matter of great regret." In a statement issued this morning, the Pakistan High Commission demanded as "impartial, international probe" into the attack on Sanaullah and sought the "release of 47 Pakistani prisoners who have completed their jail terms but are still languishing in prison" in India.  Yesterday, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition seeking Sanaullah's repatriation to Pakistan but had said that it was "pained and concerned about the incident."  Pakistan's High Commissioner Salman Bashir had visited Sanaullah at the Chandigarh hospital on May 6. Two of his relatives had arrived from Pakistan on May 7 and visited the prisoner too.  A resident of Sialkot in Pakistan, Sanaullah was serving a life term. He was arrested in 1999 and convicted under TADA or Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pakistani-prisoner-sanaullah-ranjay-dies-364456?pfrom=home-lateststories

 Sarabjit Singh's death raises some vital questions for politicians

There is something disturbing about our leaders seeking to make political capital out of the unfortunate culmination of an event in which they have played a pivotal role. 
Politicians seem to be vying with each other in their praise of Sarabjit Singh ever since news of his death in a Lahore hospital broke. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called him a "brave son of India" and his government sent a special Air India plane to bring his body back to the country. The Punjab government has gone so far as to accord him a state funeral. But it is precisely this hero-worshipping of a 'martyr', which raises questions that the authorities would do well to answer.

If Sarabjit Singh was indeed the hero he is now being made out to be, why did the Indian government not move heaven and earth to get him released while he was languishing for years in a prison in Pakistan? As recently as last year, an elderly Pakistani scientist was set free by India after he had spent 20 years in prison for murder, and an Indian government that cared for Sarabjit Singh could have surely cited Khalil Chishti's case to secure freedom for him.  While none of this happened, the Indian government lavishing praise on Sarabjit after he is dead raises yet another question of vital import.

At the end of the day, it cannot be forgotten that the man had been sentenced to death by Pakistan's Supreme Court for bomb blasts that left 14 people dead in 1990. Regardless of whether he was given a fair trial or not, isn't the Indian government's response setting a precedent for Pakistan in cases where its own citizens have been handed out similar punishment by the Indian judiciary?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2319171/MAIL-TODAY-COMMENT-Sarabjit-Singhs-death-raises-vital-questions-politicians.html#ixzz2SlbJI3EA 

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