(Source: The Times of India)

- A total of 52 Indians were awarded death penalty in different countries during the last 3 years, minister of state for external affairs Ajit Kumar Panja informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

The countries where Indians were awarded death penalties are Iran (2), Kuwait (1), Qatar (3), Saudi Arabia (36), Singapore (2), Uganda (1) and UAE (7), he said.

- An alarmingly large number of Keralites are being put to the sword in Saudi Arabia on charges of drug trafficking in recent times and, in most cases, the Indian missions come to know of the executions only after the event.

The Indians on death row, who now number about 25, do not get any legal or other assistance from the Indian government as the missions in Riyadh and Jeddah are kept in the dark about the executions, sources in Riyadh said.

The issue assumes significance in view of the forthcoming visit to Saudi Arabia of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh next month.

Seven Keralites were executed in Saudi Arabia last year and many of the Indians facing capital punishment are said to be victims of a Mumbai- based drug mafia that recruits jobless youth as carriers.

Confirming the number of executions and those on the death row in Saudi jails as reported in the Indian media, Indian diplomats said Riyadh deals very strictly with drug trafficking and there was also a need to increase awareness about the risks of carrying narcotics into the country.

Neither the Indian embassy nor the consulate in Jeddah are informed of the executions in advance by the Saudi authorities despite numerous requests by the missions, sources said.

Diplomats in Saudi Arabia say the Indian missions do not have a legal department to extend legal assistance to the accused Indians. Officials from the missions visit an accused only when a specific request is received.

The beheading of 7 Keralites came to light when Kozhikode regional passport officer Gloria Kumar wrote letters to the relatives informing them about the executions recently.

25other Keralites - many of them young men - were facing similar charges in Saudi jails and relatives of 21 of them have submitted petitions to the Indian authorities for help, according to published reports. Some of the executions go unnoticed as the victims travel on fake passports.

However Indian diplomats in Saudi Arabia said they had so far not received any petitions from the relatives of the convicts.

Unlike in Saudi Arabia, officials from Indian missions in UAE regularly visit the jails there and extend various assistance as they have information and access to the jailed Indians.

The Indian associations in the UAE also raise funds to get the release of prisoners who are languishing for want of resources to pay death money in case of murder charges.

Both UAE and Saudi Arabia have around 1 million Indian expatriates each. But the number of Indians held on drug smuggling charges in UAE is quite less, judging by available reports though the latter also has very stringent laws against drug traffickers.