Ajmer:
24-year-old Swapandeep Kaur hardly has any memories of her father, having met him last as a toddler. But Sarabjit Singh's daughter still hopes to see him - her father has been languishing in a jail in Pakistan for the last 22 years and is on death row.
Sarabjit's family contends that he crossed the border into Pakistan by mistake in August 1990, when there was no demarcated border between the both nations. He was then arrested and put behind bars. Accused of being a RAW agent, Sarabjit was convicted and sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in serial bomb blasts that killed 14 people in 1990.
In 2008, Sarabjit's family was allowed see him in a prison in Lahore. It is during this visit that he told his family of what exactly happened in 1990. He also said that he was totally ignorant of the documents that he was signing on since they were written in Urdu, a language he didn't speak or understand.
Recalling the emotional reunion that lasted for 38 minutes, his family members tell NDTV that they could barely speak. It, incidentally, was also the first time Sarabjit saw his youngest daughter, Poonam, who was just 23 days old when he was arrested in Pakistan.
Ansar Burney, a renowned human rights activist in Pakistan, has recently sent a mercy petition for Sarabjit to President Asif Ali Zardari.
Sarabji's family too continues to fight for him. His sister, Dalbir Kaur, and his daughter, Swapandeep, are in Ajmer to appeal to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari who will also be in the city to offer prayers at the famous
dargah (shrine) of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
"Mercy petition of my brother is pending with Zardari. I would urge from him to release my brother. Since he will be visiting Ajmer
dargah on Sunday, I am also going there with a wish of my brother's release which is in the hands of Zardari," Dalbir Kaur had earlier told reporters.
Like most devotees, Sarabjit's family too would be hoping that their prayers and wishes would be answered at the
dargah.