Days after an Indian prisoner was allegedly tortured to death in a Pakistani jail, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday said it would take up the matter with the Centre even as the BJP demanded that a strong message be sent to Islamabad that such “inhuman” acts would not be tolerated.
“We will call for the details and will take up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs,” Minister of State for Home Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo said in Jammu.
His remarks came after a preliminary post-mortem report of Chamel Singh found four injuries, including a fracture, on the body. He was allegedly assaulted by the staff in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, where he was serving a five-year term for alleged involvement in espionage. Singh, said to be in his 60s, hailed from Jammu district, and was declared dead when brought to a Pakistani hospital on January 15.
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Mr. Kichloo said the State government had taken the initiative in ensuring the return of Singh’s body.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Balbir Punj asked the Indian government to make it clear to the neighbouring country that it would not tolerate this sort of inhuman behaviour.
“There has been repetition of such unfortunate incidents particularly in Pakistan. Earlier, they beheaded one of our soldiers,” he told reporters in Delhi.
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“I can understand people fighting a war and somebody get killed. But this sort of cruelty, which has been evident on the part of Pakistan while dealing with India and Indians, is really very sad.”
“It shows the amount of hatred they have towards India somewhere and particularly Hindus ... The least the Government of India can do is to make it clear to Pakistan, once and for all, that we will not tolerate this sort of inhuman behaviour in the future,” he said.