Savioress Sushma Swaraj

Yes – She deserves the honour of being called as “Savioress” in view of her untiring relentless humanitarian help extended to our Indians abroad caught in terrorist’s war zones, in death row convictions and in other various problems faced. 

But, Recent Saving of a Death Row Drug Indian Convict Gurdip Singh from Indonesia’s Firing Squad is unique, unprecedented and matchless for her powerful Diplomacies – An Ever Glittering Crown on her head. It seems that IMPOSSIBLE is not in her Political Dictionary – India is blessed.

Gurdip Singh was sentenced to death along with 13 others – Indonesians, Nigerians, Zimbabweans and Pakistanis. On July 29, 2016, 4 of the 10 including an Indonesian were executed by the Indonesian Firing Squad without giving no reasons about the non-execution of other convicts which amongst others include Gurdip Singh. Indeed, Sushma Swaraj had saved his life from execution.

Gurdip Singh was arrested on August 29, 2004 at the Soekarno Hatta Airport on charges of drug trafficking and was handed a death penalty in 2005. His appeal against the death penalty was turned down by the High Court in May 2005 and even his appeal to the Supreme Court ended in upholding his death penalty.


Unless one knows the sequence of events unfolded on the fateful days of 28th and 29th July 2016, it is not possible to gauge the tremendous diplomatic moves of Sushma Swaraj and her team here in India and in Indonesia.


Indonesian authorities had phoned up to the family members of Gurdip Singh that he would be executed on July 28, 2016 and the family was already in mourning and relatives had started gathering. On 26th July 2016, Indian Embassy Officials in Indonesia made Gurdip speak with his wife Kulwinder Kaur over the phone. Wife informed the media that Gurdip told that though he could not come to see them all, but, his body would come  soon after the execution. 

But, as good luck would have it, his family was informed that Gurdip was not executed and was lodged again in the same cell. The Indian Embassy Officials could make Gurdip himself to speak to his wife again who said: My husband told me: Your Gurdip has been spared, it is a miracle. I was close to the firing squad. My hands were tied and I was blindfolded, but then I was called back. The Indian Government stood by me. He had made two more calls later in the day and spoke to his daughter and nephew. In such situations, direct calls from the death convicts at Foreign Land to the family in India are quite unheard of which speaks volumes about the concerns the present Government have.

In our earlier diplomatic dealings, the External Affairs Ministers, External Office and more so Indian Embassy Officials abroad and of course even the PMO - all in unison would sing like a parrot that “India cannot interfere with the laws of other countries and any step would be construed as an attack on their sovereignty.”

Modi Government likes to deal in different perspectives and for them, Justice rather than Law of Land needs to be addressed in the most determined and intelligent manner by all means and by all channels and at all levels. 

THINK INDIA, THINK.

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