17 Pak prisoners in Indian jails awaiting repatriation for years

Litigation over the fate of 189 Pakistani prisoners reportedly languishing in Indian penitentiaries took a new turn when a human rights activist submitted in the Sindh High Court a list of 17 prisoners waiting for their repatriation.

The Sindh High Court has asked the federal government to explain its position on 189 Pakistanis 'missing in India', reports Dawn.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit its comments on the list by the next date of hearing on April 26.

During the previous hearing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had disputed the claims of the chairman of Ansar Barney Trust International regarding 189 Pakistani prisoners having gone missing from the Indian jails.

The petitioner placed on record a letter of the Foreign Ministry to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi containing the list of 17 Pakistani prisoners with the dates of confirmation of their national status by the Interior Ministry.

According to the letter, Pakistan's mission at New Delhi was requested to take up the matter with the Indian Government for an early release of the Pakistani prisoners as well as all those who had completed their sentences.

Stating that he was shocked to see the Pakistan Government and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's silence and ignorance on painful reports relating to 189 Pakistani prisoners having gone missing from the Indian prisons, the activist said so he decided to file this constitutional petition in the High Court.

The Foreign Ministry had in its reply denied the claims of the petitioner and stated that whenever an arrest was brought to the ministry's notice, a request to the Indian authorities was made for consular access to collect information about the detainees and establish his or her Pakistani citizenship.