Lahore:
While many of us do get the chance to celebrate Diwali with our families, one family in Punjab has been waiting for a member for decades. Sarabjit Singh, who has been in Pakistan jail on charges of being an Indian spy, will not be home this Diwali. His family is hoping the Pakistan government will show mercy and free him soon.
"We were hoping this Diwali he would be with us. That didn't happen. We are now hoping that before the year ends he will be home. Without him we can't celebrate Diwali," Sarabjit's daughter Sapandeep said.
Sapandeep was hardly a few years old when her father strayed into Pakistan via the Punjab border. He was branded a terrorist and sentenced to death.
21 years have passed; Pakistan has pardoned Kashmir Singh and Gopal Das and has even said it is not averse to free Sarabjit.
"Here too in Pakistan some feel he should be pardoned, but there is some resentment as well. It is not against Sarabjit, but against the Indian government's attitude," said Rana Sana Ullaha, Law Minister of Punjab province in Pakistan.
Sarabjit's lawyer says if 80-year-old Pakistani national Professor Chisti, lodged in a Rajasthan jail for murder, is pardoned by India it will help Sarabjit's case.
Meanwhile, Sarabjit has started writing a book: On his imprisonment in Pakistan and his hope to be home someday.
For long, India has been trying hard to get clemency for Sarabjeet Singh. It seems so close and still so far.
"We were hoping this Diwali he would be with us. That didn't happen. We are now hoping that before the year ends he will be home. Without him we can't celebrate Diwali," Sarabjit's daughter Sapandeep said.
Sapandeep was hardly a few years old when her father strayed into Pakistan via the Punjab border. He was branded a terrorist and sentenced to death.
21 years have passed; Pakistan has pardoned Kashmir Singh and Gopal Das and has even said it is not averse to free Sarabjit.
"Here too in Pakistan some feel he should be pardoned, but there is some resentment as well. It is not against Sarabjit, but against the Indian government's attitude," said Rana Sana Ullaha, Law Minister of Punjab province in Pakistan.
Sarabjit's lawyer says if 80-year-old Pakistani national Professor Chisti, lodged in a Rajasthan jail for murder, is pardoned by India it will help Sarabjit's case.
Meanwhile, Sarabjit has started writing a book: On his imprisonment in Pakistan and his hope to be home someday.
For long, India has been trying hard to get clemency for Sarabjeet Singh. It seems so close and still so far.
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