Sentence ended 3 yrs ago, Pak national awaits repatriation

Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 22

With the recent release of Hamid Ansari from a Pakistani jail and Imran Warsi and Abdullah from Indian jails, Muhammad Yousaf is hoping he can go back to his family soon.

Pakistani national from Sindh Yousaf (64) was arrested in Rajasthan in April, 2013, when he travelled here to meet some relatives. Charged with possession of fake currency, he was lodged in the Alwar  jail where he completed his sentence in February 2016. Since then he has been waiting for repatriation to Karachi to unite with his family, especially daughter Shumaila who is critically ill because of renal failure. Yousaf remains in detention in a makeshift facility in Alwar with no clarity about his fate.

Pakistani officials were granted consular access to him on May 21, 2013, and subsequently identified him as their national. According to Pakistani sources in December last year, Yousaf fell ill and was admitted to the intensive care unit of Alwar hospital. 

Relatives say they were not allowed to meet him and accuse he was discharged from the hospital even before he could recover from his illness. Indian officials though argue that the case is ‘still under trial in a civilian court under an independent judiciary, unlike the farcical military trial in Pakistan’. “He was provided full medical treatment. He is not in ICU as claimed by the Pakistani side,” said an Indian official. 

Yousaf’s family remains in touch with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad while Pakistani authorities claim to have sent some 28 note verbales to the Indian Foreign Ministry on the issue. “It is inexplicable that an old and severely ill man, having completed his sentence nearly three years ago, should remain incarcerated and not allowed to rejoin his family where his young daughter is fighting for life. No reason on earth can justify this. The situation cries for immediate resolution,” said a Pakistani official said.

An Official response is awaited from the Indian authorities about a possible reason for delay in his deportation. According to lists exchanged on January 1 this year under standard protocol, there are 537 Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails, while 249 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 98 fishermen are lodged in Indian jails.

According to India, 80 Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentences await repatriation since their nationality is yet to be confirmed by Islamabad. Both sides have reconstituted the Joint Judicial Committee tasked with looking into the India-Pakistan prionsers’ issue.

Daughter fights for life in Karachi

• Pakistani national from Sindh Yousaf (64) had come to meet his relatives in Rajasthan
• Charged with possession of fake currency, he was lodged in the Alwar district jail
• He completed his sentence in February 2016 and has been awaiting repatriation since then, his ailing daughter is fighting for life in Karachi