Long wait to freedom

The ministry of interior had delayed proving travel documents to 472 Pakistanis in Indian jails.


Express September 15, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The ministry of interior’s delay in proving travel documents to 472 Pakistanis in Indian jails is slowing down the process of their repatriation, Advocate Iqbal Haider informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Haider brought this up during the hearing of a petition filed by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) seeking the release of 442 Indian fishermen imprisoned in Pakistani jails. They have now been released.

Haider, who was representing the PFF, told the three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that 472 Pakistani prisoners are waiting for their release from Indian jails but the interior ministry has not yet provided them the required travel documents.

The prisoners have been waiting for the documents for two years now, Haider said, adding that the Indian government has completed all the processes for their release. The Indian courts have issued directives for their release while the Indian National Congress party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other Indian officials are also supportive of the move.

Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq submitted the report regarding the release of 442 Indian fishermen from Pakistani jails and said that the remaining 14 fishermen have not received travel documents from the Indian High Commission as their Indian nationality has not been verified yet.

Haider thanked Justice Chaudhry for ordering the release of the Indian fisherman and said that of the 14, two are not Indian nationals while the Indian High Commission has sought access to the remaining 12 prisoners.

He added that another 128 Indians are imprisoned in different Pakistani jails and as nothing has been proved against them in any court the Supreme Court may also issue directions for their release. However, Justice Chaudhry observed that as their cases are pending in different courts the apex court cannot intervene. He did, though, issue directives to expedite the hearings of those cases.

Giving reasons for the delay, Haider said that documents travel from the interior ministry all the way to the SHOs who demand bribes from the families of prisoners to provide verification.

He asked the bench to issue directions to the interior ministry in this regard but the request was turned down and the petition was disposed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2010.

COMMENTS (1)

Sultan Ahmed. | 13 years ago | Reply For releasing Pakistani form Indian jails PAKISTAN will have to work more on diplomatic channel.
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