India heaved a sigh of relief after International Court of Justice stayed the execution of Kulbhshan Jadhav. Rejecting Pakistan’s argument that it did not have jurisdiction on the matter, the world court also ordered Islamabad to give consular access to the former Indian Navy officer.
Reacting to the development, Dalbir Singh Kaur, sister of Sarabjit Singh who was killed in a Lahore jail while on death row in 2013, said it was a historic victory for India and that Pakistan needs to learn from its mistakes. “Today, it’s a very big victory for India. This is the victory for all Indian citizens, victory for truth. India defeated Pakistan today and Pakistan must learn from its mistakes,” Dalbir said.
However, she also expressed disappointment over the manner the previous government handled her brother’s case. “Had the UPA government followed the same channel and taken up my brother’s case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), he would have been among us today,” she told Indian Express.
Dalbir also claimed that she had approached the then UPA government to file a case at ICJ on advice of some activists but she was declined help. “Some activists had told me about this court where I could file a case against a nation. I approached a minister and a secretary-rank officer of the UPA government in 2007-08 and requested them to file the case in the International Court of Justice for release of my brother Sarabjit Singh from the Pakistan jail. But they declined to help me, saying that I should go to the ICJ on my own and the government cannot play any role in it.” she told the daily.
“I kept requesting its representatives to raise Sarabjit’s matter in the ICJ. But the UPA government never listened to me,” she added. She was also effusive in her praise for the NDA government “The Modi government acted quickly and did everything that was required to save a citizen of the country.”
Sarabjit Singh was killed in an attack inside Lahore prison in April 2013. A Pakistan court had convicted him of terrorism and espionage and sentenced him to death.
