Indian Express: New Delhi: Wednesday,
May 25, 2016.
The release
of Shahid Latif, since alleged to be the handler of the Pathankot attack, has
thrown the spotlight on the Centre’s policy for deportation of Pakistani
prisoners in Indian jails. This policy came about during a legal battle waged
by Professor Bhim Singh, a senior lawyer and a Jammu and Kashmir politician,
who stood up for the rights of foreigners held in Indian jails, leading to the
government framing policy guidelines for repatriation of foreign nationals who
have completed their sentences, besides streamlining of consular access to
prisoners.
“There were
800 Pakistani prisoners, who were being treated like caged cattle. After my
effort and the intervention of the apex court, 254 of them remain in Indian
jails,” Singh said. “Once the court holds you not guilty or you complete your
sentence, they have no right to detain you.”
Singh said
any person, not just a citizen of India, can approach the Supreme Court for his
fundamental rights. “I myself have been detained 54 times in my life and each
time, I was released by the Supreme Court. So whenever anybody came to me and
wherever I saw that a prisoner’s fundamental rights were being violated, I
stood up for them,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether a prisoner was a
terrorist or whatever. The moment a prisoner has completed his sentence, he has
to be released. Otherwise it is a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.
The government cannot put people under the Public Safety Act (in J&K) or
the National Security Act indefinitely. They cannot turn it into a revolving
door.”
How did he
start this campaign for prisoners’ rights? “When I was studying in England in
1969, I made a lot of friends from Pakistan. There were also a lot of people
from PoK who met me. I have been in touch with them over the years,” Singh
said. “After the Kargil war, lots of people were arrested along the border. I
started receiving letters from Pakistan and PoK. I would receive letters
requesting me to help locate their prisoners held in Indian jails. That is how
this started.”
He said he
began from J&K, where scores were held under provisions of the Public
Safety Act. “I filed an RTI application asking how many people were in jail
under PSA and how many among them were foreigners. Then I filed petitions in
J&K High Court.” He initiated legal action in 1999. “The J&K government
resisted,” he recalled. “In 2003, I became a member of the legislative council
and I asked a question about PSA detainees in the state. This gave us a lot of
information.”
Singh said he
subsequently moved the Supreme Court under Article 32. On one of his petitions,
filed in 2005, the SC observed that “the protection provided by Article 21 of
the Constitution of India requires that foreign nationals who have served out
their sentences are deported to their respective country… without any delay”.
After one
intervention by the Supreme Court, the government came up with detailed policy
guidelines for repatriation of Pakistani fishermen and prisoners and issued it
to states and UT administrations on August 26, 2010. The guidelines were
modified on February 1, 2012, and March 7, 2012.
On April 4,
2016, the government told the court that the “release and repatriation of
Pakistani prisoners and fishermen lodged in Indian jails and detention centres
is governed by provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access signed between
India and Pakistan on May 21, 2008. The government of India has been providing
comprehensive lists of Pakistani prisoners and fishermen lodged in
jails/detention centres in India twice a year on January 1 and July 1”.
The
government also provided the current status of 254 Pakistani prisoners and 17
Pakistani fishermen, with a breakup of how many had been repatriated or
remained in jail. This included a list of 59 Pakistani prisoners who have
completed their sentences but whose repatriation was held up because their
nationality was yet to be confirmed.
“It is ironic
that while the government calls them Pakistani nationals, they are also
claiming their nationality is yet to be established. I raised this issue,’’
Singh said. “If you a take a look at this list of 59 prisoners, you will see
how big a human tragedy it is. Four of them are identified as ‘Goonga’ and
‘Bhola’ while seven have been put in mental hospitals and one has been shifted
to a detention centre from a mental hospital. Three mentally ill Pakistani
prisoners died in jail.”
Singh said
several states have set up detention centres for prisoners who have completed
their sentences and are awaiting repatriation, J&K continue to keep them in
jail.
Singh hasn’t
been confining his legal struggle for the rights of foreign prisoners to just
India. Two years ago, he travelled to Pakistan on the invitation of Lahore’s
Lawyers Congress where he advocated free legal aid for Indians languishing in
Pakistani prisons. “I fight for the rights of these prisoners to uphold our
Constitution,’’ he said.
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