Parliamentarians of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance on Friday met President Pranab Mukherjee to express concern over Chinese incursions into Ladakh and the manner in which the case of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh was handled by the government.
The delegation, led by NDA Working Chairperson L K Advani, met Mukherjee in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention on the two issues.
They demanded that Mukherjee discuss these issues with the UPA government and ask them to take appropriate action.
Advani told reporters that Sarabjit had initially been given a death sentence which was commuted to life imprisonment.
"Sarabjit had reportedly completed his sentence and had received a condonation of his death sentence, as its execution had been delayed for too long. We are given to understand that he was due to be released but held back in Pakistan as a retaliatory gesture," Advani said.
The NDA alleged that Sarabjit's murder could not have taken place without "official connivance" in the Lahore jail and at least, some authorities were involved.
"What distresses us very greatly is the inaction of the Government of India, the Ministry of External Affairs and the officials concerned of not having constantly monitored this case... We are persuaded to emphasise this because we hold that our government's inaction in this case cannot be condoned. They owe the country an explanation and an apology," Advani said.
On the "unilateral and forceful Chinese occupation" in Ladakh, the NDA expressed concern that this may escalate into a 1962-like situation when there were similar incursions before it turned into a full-blown war.
"Government and the Prime Minister have repeatedly announced that this is a 'localised' incident. May we submit this would tantamount to a disingenuous evasion of government's responsibility?" Advani said.
