KARACHI:
The government of Pakistan must speak for the rights of Pakistanis languishing in Saudi prisons for years. Reportedly, their only crime is working abroad to earn a living for their families back in Pakistan. Our government has good ties with Saudi Arabia, especially after the defence pact. Even if they are defaulters, they must not be left to fend for themselves at all. The loneliness in prisons that they must have gone through in all these years long should be imagined and considered.
Moreover, most of those prisoners are breadwinners whose families are now struggling here in Pakistan. I personally know of such a family whose only breadwinner has been rotting in a Saudi prison simply because he gave a lift to a man who was reportedly a drug peddler and was caught after a tip-off. Since he was in the vehicle at the time of being caught, the driver was also suspected to be an accomplice.
There are hundreds of cases like this in which innocent people have been suffering with zero support from any side. In the regard, special trial courts may be constituted to speed up such cases and release those suffering through no fault of their own.
Mir Babar Ali Khuhawar
Larkana
