Mumbai: Fauzia Ansari is inconsolable. As tensions between India and Pakistan escalate, hope dims for her son, who even after serving his term is still languishing in a Pakistani jail.
Hamid Ansari, 31, an IT professional, has been in a Pakistani prison for about four years now after he allegedly crossed over to Pakistan without valid documents to meet a female friend he met online.
"I am so crushed and devastated. It’s as if a volcano erupted and I’m trapped under the debris,” said Fauzia Ansari, a resident of Versova.
The aggravating Indo-Pak situation has shattered the hopes of Ansari family who have been fighting relentlessly to get their son back. Ansari has already served his three-year-prison term.
"My heart breaks when I watch the news. There seems to be no end in sight to this war-like situation. My son is a civilian, and I hope they consider such humanitarian cases with an open mind in between all the diplomacy and politics,” said the mother.
There was a ray of hope for the Mumbai family after Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar recently assured that all efforts are being made to bring back Indian soldier Chandu Chavan, who had strayed across the Line of Control last week.
"I have tweeted to Minister Parrikar requesting him to take up my son's case as well. We were holding a Twitter campaign to appeal to Pakistani and Indian authorities for Hamid's release. We have toned down the campaign after Uri attacks and the surgical strike," added the mother.
Ansari has been seeking consular access for her son but has so far met with failure.
"We are unable to even communicate with my Pakistani lawyers, on a regular basis, because of the current situation. We hope his safety and security is not compromised, considering the number of times he was attacked in jail in the recent past," said Ansari.
According to his mother, Hamid left home on November 5, 2012, to hunt for a job in Afghanistan.
It is alleged that the Mumbai boy crossed over to Pakistan with false documents to look for a woman whom he had befriended online.
Subsequently, he was arrested by the local police and intelligence agencies at Koht - in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province - and was in the custody of the Pakistan Army.
He was subsequently court-martialled, after which he was sentenced to three years for espionage.
A petition was filed by Hamid in the Peshawar high court seeking the inclusion of his period of detention (of over 3 years) prior to his conviction by a military court in his jail term.
The court had sought information of his release from Pakistan Government and the hearing has been getting pushed inordinately. The next hearing is on October 13.
Comments
0 comment