Sarabjit Singh was cremated with full state honors in his hometown Bikhiwind, Punjab yesterday. Everyone was in tears in his hometown and several high profile dignitaries were present for his funeral. He was declared a Martyr as well.
However, one is not really very clear, how Sarabjit Singh was considered a Martyr? Or why was he given state honors? Was he a patriot who died while fighting with the opponents? Or he died while fighting for protecting the sovereignty of the nation? Unfortunately, none of the above is true.
Before, we proceed further, let me clear that the torture unleashed by Pakistan on Sarabjit is absolutely unwarranted, uncouth and condemnable. Sarabjit deserves full sympathy for having been attacked inside a Pakistan jail which led to his death. Pakistan needs to be taken to task seriously for having allowed such a thing to happen. However, all these things do not automatically translate in deducing that Sarabjit was a martyr.
Let us go back in history a bit to get this in proper perspective. On 28th August 1990, Sarabjit strayed into Pakistan in a drunken state. There, he was arrested by Pakistan as Manjit Singh and subsequently charged with killing 14 people in a bomb explosion, which had happened few days before. Pakistan had claimed that he was from Indian intelligence who had come to Lahore to carry out the bombings. However, neither Sarabjit Singh nor the Indian government ever acknowledged that he was an Indian spy.
Thereafter, over several years, his mercy petition was reviewed, cancelled and goofed up a couple of time amidst protests as well. So, the case of Sarabjit Singh became a negotiation tool for both the governments. Till last week, when he was attacked inside the prison.
Now, in this entire story, there is no one act of Sarabjit which can be classified as patriotic. The story only highlights the insensitivity of Pakistan and ineffective diplomacy by India, but by any stretch of imagination, does not show Sarabjit Singh as a patriot or fighting for the cause of the nation. At the most, he wanted to be freed so that he can return back to India and lead a happy family life as a farmer.
So, how come there was so much brouhaha over his killing and the actual reasons for state honors? It is cheap politics by the government which is currently under immense pressure from the opposition and the public in general. So, the government wanted to hide its inefficient diplomacy under the garb of excessive sympathy for Sarabjit Singh. The cartoon in a newspaper which said that Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral because the dead bodies do not ask questions seems to be correct. Otherwise, why we do not see him at the protest sites by students in Delhi, which have unfortunately become so common these days?
The media, which has become addicted to showing some spicy news or the other, as shown in ‘Peepli Live’, has also played their part in telecasting a live coverage for extended periods.
His sister, Dalbir Kaur, deserves full sympathy for the loss. But at times, she too has overdone her part, by talking in front of the mikes as though she is slowly revealing her political ambitions. A person in genuine grief cannot generally speak so tactfully, taking names of people and urging action. No one knows who the bigger beneficiary was, when she hugged Rahul Gandhi and wept on his shoulders.
Therefore, we are compelled to ask this question – What made Sarabjit Singh a martyr?
Sadly, it was not his patriotism, but political opportunism which made him a martyr.
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