Parents fight for justice to their son imprisoned in Pakistan jail

An elderly Mumbai-based couple, whose son is lodged in a Pakistani prison despite having completed his jail term, is seeking justice from visiting Pakistani Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz for his release.

They are camping in Amritsar, bordering Pakistan, where Aziz is visiting to participate in the ministerial deliberations of Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process on Sunday.

Over 40 foreign ministers and dignitaries of 14 participating countries are attending the summit that will also see the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.

“We are here just to get justice for our son who is imprisoned in a Peshawar jail,” Fauzia Ansari, mother of 32-year-old Hamid Ansari, said.

The couple, who has two children, including Hamid, said he was sentenced to three years in prison and his term ended one year ago.

Fauzia, along with her husband Nehal, has been carrying placards to display outside the venue of two-day Heart of Asia conference.

She said she had earlier sent a letter to Aziz seeking an appointment to request for Hamid’s release but in the absence of any reply from his office, she had no option but to stand near the venue of the conference and display placards.

Hamid, an IT engineer and an MBA degree holder, had gone to Kabul on November 4, 2012 from where he wanted to reach Pakistan allegedly to meet a Pakistani girl he had been in touch with through e-mails.

There was no whereabouts of him after November 10.

The deputy attorney general of Pakistan had informed the court that Hamid was in the custody of Pakistani army and had been awarded three years’ imprisonment.

Fauzia had filed a writ petition in the Peshawar high court seeking release of her son after the completion of his jail term. The petition was dismissed as the court had
observed that the army would decide on his release since he was in its custody.