NEWS

Sarabjit's sister hopes to meet Zardari in Ajmer

By Onkar Singh
April 07, 2012 11:09 IST
Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian on death row in Pakistan following his conviction for alleged involvement in bomb attacks, has reached Jaipur in her endavour to meet visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

He is scheduled to land in New Delhi on Sunday on a daylong trip. After his lunch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh he will visit the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer. 

"My family and other friends are accompanying me. When President Zardari was in jail his wife late Benazir Bhutto had prayed for him and her prayers were answered. I will offer a chaddar at the dargah on April 8. Mercy petition of my brother is pending with Zardari. I will try to meet him with a plea for the release of my brother," Kaur told rediff.com on the phone from Jaipur.

A senior official from the home ministry said that he has no clue whether or not
Dalbir Kaur has been granted a permission to meet Zardari. "The schedule of the visiting dignitary is being coordinated at the highest level in New Delhi and Islamabad," he said.

Zardari will meet Dr Singh at 11 am on Sunday. A one-on-one between the two leaders will be followed by a delegation-level meeting. After a lunch hosted by Dr Singh, Zardari would leave for Jaipur en route to the dargah along with his son Bilawal, president of Pakistan People's Party. He will fly back to Jaipur.  

Kaur had visited Pakistan in June last year. Pakistan court allowed her to meet Sarabjit in jail.

Sarabjit has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in 1990 that killed 14 people. His family insists he was wrongly convicted for the bombings. Though Sarabjit was set to be hanged in 2008, Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter.

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

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