Save our son from Pakistani prison, bring him home: Hamid Ansari's parents

Mumbai, Aug. 6 (ANI): Unable to holdback her tears ever since knowing that her son Hamid Ansari, who is in a Pakistani Jail, was attacked, his mother Fauzia Ansari has been pleading to the government to do everything in its power to bring her son back. Hamid's parents told ANI that they came to know about the incident through Pakistani newspaper - Dawn and they know only what is published or what their lawyer tells them, as they have no direct contact with their son. "There was a hearing at Pakistan Peshawar High Court on 2nd August and on 3rd August we came to know through Dawn Newspaper. Later our advocate also informed us that such an incident has happened with Hamid," said Fauzia. "But our advocate who is also a social worker immediately reached there and talked to the authorities about Hamid's security. He is doing is best he could to ensure Hamid's security," she added. Expressing her inability to help her son Fauzia said, "We are so shattered, we don't know what do. We can only request the Indian government again and again that we are Indian citizens, Hamid is an India citizen and he has not committed any heinous crime. His mistake was to go there with fake documents and he has already suffered a lot for this." She added that it has already been four years that Hamid is in a Pakistani jail, even though he was only sentenced to three years imprisonment. "The time of three years is over and it has been four years now, so the Indian government without any further delay should bring its Indian citizen back," said Fauzia. "We don't exactly know what happened there as we have not even talked to Hamid since four years. At least if we are able to talk to him we can know the actual situation and help him in the right way. But the best would be as according to the law his punishment is complete, so now there should be no hurdles in bringing him back. Instead of planning for his security we should now be able to bring him back as his sentence is complete," she said. She also requested the Pakistan Government to show mercy on him and send him back to his home. "We are requesting again and again to our Foreign Ministry and our Prime Minister since four years and it is high time now. We are requesting them again to bring him back to India from Pakistan as soon as possible," said Fauzia. She said that they have been meeting and requesting the authorities again and again and she is receiving only assurances. "We have tried our best from our side as far as possible, I met the Chief Minister on August 1 before than we met him on June 15 and he had assured us. Then in the last week of June when we read about Judith who was from Kolkata and was stuck in Kabul and when CM Mamta Banerjee requested PM Narendra Modi, he intervened immediately and Judith came back to her country very soon," she said. Fauzia cited other such examples when Indian nationals stranded abroad were rescued and said a Kerela Priest was immediately released when the case went to the Foreign Ministry by the CM and the Prime Minister intervened. "We continuously visit the ministries and they assure us and they are working towards it but we are still waiting for the final results," said Hamid's father Nihal. "The CM assured us on August 1 to personally take interest in the issue. Sushma Swaraj also assured us that the government is working on the matter. The Indian High Commission in Islamabad also says that they are working on it but everyone knows what the result has been so far," he said. On reports of attack on Hamid, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in a news conference, "There is a petition in the Peshawar High Court requesting the court to summon the superintendent of the jail where Hamid Ansari is currently lodged. The petition was filed after earlier reports of him being attacked in prison through our High Commission in Islamabad." He said that the Indian government has also reiterated its earlier stand and request for consular access and asked the Government of Pakistan to allow Hamid to speak to his family. Indian national Hamid Nehal Ansari had entered Pakistan with a fake identity card sent in by Facebook friends, who left him in a Kohat hotel on November 14, 2012, before he was arrested. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment for espionage. (ANI)