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Amritsar: The two daughters of Sarabjit Singh, who faces the death penalty in Pakistan on terrorism charges, have written to US President George W. Bush, addressing him as "uncle" and urging him to intervene and save their father from the gallows.
Poonam and Swapandeep, who do not recall having ever seen Sarabjit, have sought "Uncle" Bush's intervention to save their father from being hanged on May 1. The letter to Bush comes just ahead of a visit to Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail tomorrow by Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur, his wife Sukhpreet Kaur and both daughters.
The letter has urged the US president to see the whole issue from the perspective of a father. "Uncle, our father entered Pakistan territory in 1990 by mistake in a drunken state and has not done anything to warrant death," it states.
The girls have pointed out how their father became a victim of mistaken identity and was subsequently sentenced to death for causing the death of 14 people in bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1990.
Sarabjit is identified in Pakistan as Manjit Singh. His family in Punjab disputes this identity saying he has nothing to do with terrorism.
"We have never seen our father as we were too young when all this happened. Our father was the sole breadwinner of the family and has been falsely implicated," the sisters said.
Helping hand
Dalbir Kaur said yesterday she hoped the Pakistani people would help her family save Sarabjit's life.
"I appeal to families of the victims of the bomb blasts, in which Sarabjit's name has figured as Manjit Singh, to pardon him even though we know that he is innocent. We are going with a lot of hope," she said.
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