Islamabad/New Delhi, Apr 29: Indian High Commission officials on Sunday visited Sarabjit Singh, comatose in a Lahore hospital following a brutal assault, for the second time in as many days after permission was granted by Pakistani authorities after an initial denial.
The Pakistan government “provided second consular access to Indian diplomats presently stationed in Lahore”, said a statement issued by Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
“The officials visited Singh in the Lahore hospital. His condition remains unchanged,” spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Singh was brought to the hospital after a deadly attack by his fellow jail inmates.
The Indian officials were asked to coordinate with the Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Chief of Protocol, Camp Office Lahore and the medical superintendent of Jinnah Hospital for consular arrangements, Chaudhry said. It could not immediately be ascertained whether Pakistan had granted consular access only for one visit by Indian officials to the ICU of Jinnah Hospital, where Sarabjit is being treated.
More than 45 hours after Sarabjit was admitted to Jinnah Hospital with a severe head injury, there has been “no sign” of recovery or improvement in his condition, the doctors treating him were quoted as saying by sources.
The doctors believe 49-year-old Sarabjit’s chances of survival are “slim” as he sustained injuries over a widespread area of his head that led to unconsciousness.
Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur, wife, Sukhpreet Kaur, and daughters Swapandeep and Poonam, visited him at the hospital after arriving from India on Sunday. The family pleaded for help from Indian government and prayed for his life.
A senior doctor of the state-run Jinnah Hospital said Sarabjit’s family was allowed to see him through a window from outside the intensive care unit as it was “not good for the patient as well as attendants to get close to each other.”
“Sarabjit Singh’s face is swollen, he was beaten with iron rods. He is unconscious, in a very critical condition,” his sister Dalbir Kaur said.
Sarabjit’s wife has appealed to Pakistani authorities to send her husband back to India for better treatment.
After a medical board examined Sarabjit again on Sunday, its members agreed it would not be possible to perform surgery on him at this stage.
Regular access
India has sought regular consular access. “Indian officials were given access to Sarabjit Singh only once. Thereafter, there has been no access to Sarabjit Singh,” an official of the Indian High Commission said.
“The matter has been taken up with the Pakistani side and the Foreign Office has been requested to give us regular consular access to Sarabjit Singh,” said the official. Two officials of the Indian High Commission were allowed to visit Sarabjit only for a few minutes early on Saturday.
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