Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Saturday condemned the attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah inside the Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu, and said that this is an established act of revenge.
“The prisoner was mercilessly attacked and brutally injured. Right now, he is in the Chandigarh hospital fighting for his life. This is an established act of revenge. We deeply condemn this incident,” he said.
Pakistan High Commission officials visited Sanaullah at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, today after India granted consular access to them last night.
An External Affairs spokesman said: “Pakistan High Commission officials visited the injured prisoner Sanaullah at 3:30 a.m. They also met the attending doctor.”
India had granted the consular access to Pakistani High Commission officials last night. They had also given travel permission to three officials and a driver.
Sanaullah was injured during a scuffle with another inmate in Jammu jail earlier on Friday morining where he was serving life term after being convicted under TADA provisions.
He was arrested in 1999. A resident of Sialkot in Pakistan, Sanaullah was immediately shifted from the high-security Kot Bhalwal jail to Government Medical College Hospital, and later rushed to PGIMER in Chandigarh in an air ambulance after doctors said his condition was critical.
The incident involving Sanaullah came a day after the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who was brutally attacked on April 26 by six Pakistani inmates in Lahore”s Kot Lakhpat Jail.
Geelani also hailed the Pakistani Government for its humanitarian act of sending back the mortal remains of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh.
“On the issue of Sarabjit, the authorities and the Government of Pakistan have shown openheartedness. Keeping the human values in view, the body of Sarabjit has been returned to his relations,” he said.
Sarabjit had been on death row since 1991 after he was convicted of espionage and links to a series of bombings in the Punjab province of Pakistan.
His mercy petitions were rejected by the courts and former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
However, Sarabjit”s family contended that his case was that of a mistaken identity. (ANI)