Mumbai: A day after the world commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace & Democracy (PIPFPD), the Indian chapter of the Forum have issued a note appealing to the Pakistani authorities and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, to release Mohd. Hamid Ansari, on the December 16, when his jail term gets completed.
Ansari, an IT engineer from Mumbai was detained and charged with espionage when he sneaked into Pakistan from Afghanistan in the year 2012. Ansari’s case has seen many twists and turns since he travelled to Afghanistan five years ago in order to illegally enter Pakistan, reportedly to meet a woman he had befriended online.
Tapan Bose, co-chairpersons, Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace & Democracy India, said, “We believe that Ansari’s immediate release will send a positive message as it will come in the background of the opening up of the Kartarpur Corridor.”
Mr Bose also added, “PIPFPD and many other campaigners for Ansari’s release have consistently maintained that while he violated the Passport Act, he is innocent of the kind of the charges levelled against him.”
Ansari entered Pakistan “illegally” to meet his love in Kohat. They came in contact through a social media site. He was sentenced to three years in January 2016. PIPFPD, said, “He has already been in custody for a long while before that. Ansari and his family have paid a heavy price for his rather naive act. They should not be made to suffer more.”
His immediate family consisting of his parents and brother have been in turmoil for the past several years. His mother is a retired professor, father was a banker, who is also a practising lawyer and elder brother is a dental surgeon.
Peshawar high court on August 7, 2018 directed authorities concerned to deport Ansari immediately after completion of his sentence, if he is not required for any other case. PIPFPD requested authorities to hand over Ansari to Indian high commission officials and that he should be released and repatriated the same day or next day via Wagah border.
