The
Indian Express: Rajkot: Monday, June 03, 2019.
As
many as 28 Indian civilians are still languishing in the jails of Pakistan
despite having completed their prison terms as India has been unable to confirm
their nationality. Ten other Indians, whose Indian nationality has been
confirmed, also continue to be in the jails of Pakistan, according to an RTI
reply received by peace activist Jatin Desai from the Indian High Commission in
Islamabad.
In
response to an an application filed by Desai under the RTI (Right to
Information) Act, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad stated consular
access had been granted at various times between 2008 and 2018 to 45 Indian
civil prisoners lodged in Pakistan’s jails. Out of them, 38 have completed
their varying prison sentences for violating Pakistani laws. But none of them
has been repatriated to India till date as the Indian government is in the
process of confirming nationality of 28 of them, including five women. The
remaining 10 are still in the custody of Pakistan despite their prison terms
ending between 2014 and 2018 and their Indian nationality having been confirmed
by the Indian government.
Out
of the rest seven, whose jail sentence have not been completed, the Indian
government has confirmed the nationality of five and is in the process of
completing the verification of two others. Of these two, one is an undertrial
while the other’s prison term is to get over in 2021. Thus, in all,
verification of nationality of 30 is pending with the Indian government while
the remaining 15 have been confirmed to be Indian nationals.
Among
the 10 prisoners who have completed their jail terms and whose Indian
nationality has also been ascertained is 53-year-old cattlherder Mohammad
Ismail Samma of Nana Dinara, a border village of Kutch district. The Indian
Express had first reported in January 2018 that Samma, who had gone missing
from a village on the India-Pakistan border in 2008, was found in a Pakistan
jail. While the Indian government had information about Samma being in Pakistan
custody since 2014, his family came to know about it in 2017 after being
informed by a fellow Kutch resident who was also arraigned in Pakistan but was
repatriated in October, 2017. When The Indian Express had reported Samma’s
case, the Indian authorities had stated that his nationality verification was
pending. However, the latest RTI reply reveals that Samma’s Indian nationality
has been confirmed. Samma’s prison term had ended in October 2016.
Likewise
is the case of Babli Bhai Yograj, he completed his jail term in May 2014 and
his Indian nationality has been also verified. Records show he had been granted
consular access in 2015.
Among
the 28 prisoners who have served their jail terms but are waiting to be sent
back home as their nationality has not been confirmed yet by India is a hearing
and speech impaired man. His prison term had ended in 2002.
“The
list of 28 civilian prisoners who are waiting to return home after serving
their prison terms in Pakistan also includes five women. Two of these women
completed their prison terms in 2007, while one more completed her time in jail
in 2009. The remaining two were meant to be free from 2011 and 2014,
respectively ,after they completed their sentences but have been unable to come
back home as their nationality verification is pending. Authorities of both the
countries must show sensitivity on this issue,” Desai, the Mumbai-based
journalist-activist, told The Indian Express.
“We
are a superpower in some sense then why does it take so long even to ascertain
if a person is an Indian citizen or not? We can understand difficulties about
the hearing and speech impaired person, but then you have to think out of the
box. For example, Cheby S, who is one of the civilians whose prison term ended
in 2015 is somewhat not mentally sharp and he says that he belongs to Buxar
village. There is a district called Buxar in Bihar as well as a village of the
same name in Uttar Pradesh. The government can think of publishing photographs
of such individuals to help establish their identity and complete verification
of their nationality,” Desai, who has served as the general secretary of the
Indian chapter of Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy
(PIPFPD), added.
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