457 Indians in Pakistani jails - January 01, 2018

[Hindustani78]

457 Indians in Pakistani jails
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/457-indians-in-pakistani-jails/article22347552.ece
NEW DELHI , January 01, 2018 22:30 IST
Updated: January 01, 2018 22:30 IST

Republic of India and Pakistan on Sunday exchanged lists of civilian prisoners in each other’s custody, beginning the process of their release soon.

The swap of lists of prisoners came even as both sides completed the annual exchange of lists of nuclear installations following a 30-year-old agreement.

“Lists of 250 civilian prisoners and 94 fishermen were handed over to Pakistan. Further, lists of 54 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 4 fishermen who have completed their sentence and whose nationality confirmation is awaited from Pakistan were also given,” stated the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a press release.

A differently abled minor, Hasnain, was repatriated to Pakistan through the Wagah border. The boy had inadvertently crossed into Indian territory in May 2017.

Pakistan has also shared a list of Indian prisoners out of which 58 are civilians and 399 are fishermen. The humanitarian gesture came days after the government informed Parliament that negative bilateral ties between India and Pakistan “impinge” on the release of the large number of fishermen languishing in each other’s prisons.

“Even in the absence of a structured bilateral dialogue, both sides have released fishermen. In 2017, we have successfully secured the release and repatriation of 363 Indian fishermen, including 245 Indian fishermen who have been repatriated in the last six months,” Gen. (retd) V.K. Singh told the Rajya Sabha.

The MEA, however, reminded Pakistan that Islamabad needs to grant consular access for some Indian prisoners, including Kulbhushan Jadhav and Hamid Nehal Ansari.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad said Pakistan would release 146 fishermen on January 8.

Pakistan also communicated its disappointment over the non-issuance of visas by India, for the visit of the 192 Pakistani pilgrims to the festival of the shrine of Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi during the first week of January.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/na...ce-1982-traced-to-pakistan-prison/594293.html
Makhani Devi, 70, had lost all hopes that her husband would be alive as he had disappeared 36 years ago from the small village Maharkalan in Jaipur’s Samod area.

Makhani and her two sons were stunned earlier this month when a policeman approached them for verification of nationality of Gajananad, who was traced to a Pakistan jail.

“Hume khushi to itni hai ki Pitaji mil gaye, chahe Pakistan mein, magar bhram aur dar ka mahol hai ki vo ghar kaise ayenge (Our happiness knows no bounds that father is found, even if in Pakistan, still fearful and confused how he is going to come back home)”, Mukesh Sharma, who was 12 when his father went missing in 1982, told The Tribune on Thursday.

“We all do not know when and how my father disappeared from our village. My mother is illiterate and approached the police station, searched everywhere but to no avail. She had not lodged an FIR. Slowly we all came to a decision that he is not alive,” Mukesh, who is now a 4th class employee in the state’s Family Welfare Department, said.

“We will approach the state government and also the Central Government especially Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who helps Indians are stuck abroad. But we do not know still how he will be back as we have no official paper in hand concerning my father,” he said.

On May 1, the Ministry of External Affairs sent a letter to confirm the nationality and whereabouts of Gajanand Sharma to the state Intelligence (CID) who marked the inquiry to the Samod police station.

Meanwhile, Gajanand’s family had moved to Jaipur’s Brahampuri area and left the village. Samod police finally traced the family and confirmed that Gajanand Sharma was presently lodged in a Pakitan jail, a senior cop told The Tribune.

“On May 18, Samod police SP (Jaipur Rural) Rameshwar Singh had verified to us Gajanand’s nationality and present location of the family in Jaipur’s Brahampuri area. Now IB has marked the inquiry for further verification to DCP-North here, then after receiving it, a report would be submitted to the MEA,” the cop said.

“The reasons of Gajanand’s disappearance and lodging in Pakistan jail are not known to Rajasthan Intelligence department and IB can not comment on any related questions as we have done a verification job of a person on MEA’s letter,” he said.