Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure justice for 17 Indians, including 16 from the state, who have been sentenced to death in the UAE on the charge of murdering a Pakistani national.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Badal urged him to intervene by using his good offices with the UAE government to ensure justice for the young boys.
An official spokesman said Badal pointed out that 17 persons had been convicted for a single murder and therefore "we have to be more cautious to see that there was no miscarriage of justice".
The Chief Minister also requested the Prime Minister to advise the Ministry of External Affairs to provide necessary legal aid to the 17 people for defending their appeals.
The Chief Minister said all the 17 Punjabi youth were sole breadwinners of their families most of which had mortgaged their small landholdings to arrange their work visa in UAE.
Moreover, certain organizations in the country were trying to give it communal colour to instigate the masses, added Badal.
He said Punjabi labourers and skilled workers had worked day and night in the last 25 years for the infrastructure development in UAE and other Middle East countries. Meanwhile BJP Rajya Sabha Member Parliament Avinash Rai Khanna urged the Prime Minister to intervene to save the lives of 17 Indians facing death penalty in Dubai.
In a letter to Prime Minister, Khanna asked the Prime Minister to use international pressure and his good offices to save the lives of 17 Indians, mostly Punjabis, by providing them legal assistance.
Khanna accused the Centre of maintaining silence on the sensitive issue which was "shocking for the people of Punjab".
Comments
0 comment