Editorial
Special Report
The News on Sunday
We probably didn't need to do this Special Report. Newspaper stories don't matter when it comes to Indians in Pakistani jails and vice versa. In fact, 'vice versa' sums it up. We do to them what they do to us.
Except when the two countries decide to begin talking, yet again! This time a little before the foreign secretary level talks, some Pakistani prisoners were released by India (and vice versa must have happened) and some more were released after the talks. It is the faces of these released prisoners on our television screens and in the next day's newspapers that shock us into doing this Special Report. The news presenters do not need to state the obvious but they do; majority of these prisoners have lost their mental balance, they announce in a mechanical way.
Beyond these news-making decisions (of releasing a few prisoners here and there) which are received with indifference at best, the process goes on, slowly, reported in a piecemeal fashion and hence failing to make an impact. We don't know if the news that Sarabjit, the Indian prisoner on death row in Pakistan, is going to meet his sister after 21 years is part of the process that goes on in the background or is a corollary of the foreign secretary level talks.
Judging by the ordeal that his sister Dalbir Singh had to go through once in Pakistan clearly shows it is part of the process where not even an inch is granted with ease. Dalbir, who was here to meet her brother as the purpose stated on her visa, was refused permission to meet him and had to file a writ petition in the Lahore High Court to do so. Yes, it is as absurd as this.
Talking of courts, the prisoners in these two countries are made to stay in jails even after they have completed sentences on the largely cooked up charges. The Indian Supreme Court took the lead in asking the government to expedite the release of such prisoners. According to Mr Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, member Pakistani-India joint judicial committee on prisoners, the Supreme Court in Pakistan has also taken some good decisions with regard to detainees.
The vice-versa mantra has worked to the advantage of prisoners in another way. Activists and lawyers in the two countries have been working for prisoners of the other country and have managed to help release quite a few of them. All praise to them.
The prisoners' tales are long and harrowing. Newspaper reports alone will not make the impact the way films like Veer Zaara, Ramchand Pakistani and Mammo will. Will the television images of these deranged released people shake our artistes and writers? We believe they should.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Special Report The News on Sunday
We probably didn't need to do this Special Report. Newspaper stories don't matter when it comes to Indians in Pakistani jails and vice versa. In fact, 'vice versa' sums it up. We do to them what they do to us.
Except when the two countries decide to begin talking, yet again! This time a little before the foreign secretary level talks, some Pakistani prisoners were released by India (and vice versa must have happened) and some more were released after the talks. It is the faces of these released prisoners on our television screens and in the next day's newspapers that shock us into doing this Special Report. The news presenters do not need to state the obvious but they do; majority of these prisoners have lost their mental balance, they announce in a mechanical way.
Beyond these news-making decisions (of releasing a few prisoners here and there) which are received with indifference at best, the process goes on, slowly, reported in a piecemeal fashion and hence failing to make an impact. We don't know if the news that Sarabjit, the Indian prisoner on death row in Pakistan, is going to meet his sister after 21 years is part of the process that goes on in the background or is a corollary of the foreign secretary level talks.
Judging by the ordeal that his sister Dalbir Singh had to go through once in Pakistan clearly shows it is part of the process where not even an inch is granted with ease. Dalbir, who was here to meet her brother as the purpose stated on her visa, was refused permission to meet him and had to file a writ petition in the Lahore High Court to do so. Yes, it is as absurd as this.
Talking of courts, the prisoners in these two countries are made to stay in jails even after they have completed sentences on the largely cooked up charges. The Indian Supreme Court took the lead in asking the government to expedite the release of such prisoners. According to Mr Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, member Pakistani-India joint judicial committee on prisoners, the Supreme Court in Pakistan has also taken some good decisions with regard to detainees.
The vice-versa mantra has worked to the advantage of prisoners in another way. Activists and lawyers in the two countries have been working for prisoners of the other country and have managed to help release quite a few of them. All praise to them.
The prisoners' tales are long and harrowing. Newspaper reports alone will not make the impact the way films like Veer Zaara, Ramchand Pakistani and Mammo will. Will the television images of these deranged released people shake our artistes and writers? We believe they should.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Indian SC orders release of Dr Khalil Chishti
NEW DELHI: The Indian Supreme Court (SC) has issued orders to release Pakistani microbiologist Dr Muhammad Khalil Chishti.
Khalil Chishti, 80, was allowed to go ho .....more
NEW DELHI: The Indian Supreme Court (SC) has issued orders to release Pakistani microbiologist Dr Muhammad Khalil Chishti.Khalil Chishti, 80, was allowed to go ho .....more
Techie returns a free man 8 years after drifting into Pakistan
Yudhvir Rana & Bella Jaisinghani, TNN
MUMBAI: Vile Parle resident Hansaben Parmar's agonizingly long wait for her son finally ended on Thursday. Eight year .....more
Yudhvir Rana & Bella Jaisinghani, TNNMUMBAI: Vile Parle resident Hansaben Parmar's agonizingly long wait for her son finally ended on Thursday. Eight year .....more
Three Pakistanis serving life in Indian jail to be freed next year
Jan Khaskheli
Karachi
Collective efforts by Pakistani and Indian civil society members and human rights activists have borne fruit as three Pakistani fishermen .....more
Jan KhaskheliKarachi
Collective efforts by Pakistani and Indian civil society members and human rights activists have borne fruit as three Pakistani fishermen .....more
Sarabjit Singh
The Lahore High Court has allowed Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh to meet his lawyer on humanitarian grounds, in response to a petition filed by Advocate Sheikh against Pu
.....more
The Lahore High Court has allowed Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh to meet his lawyer on humanitarian grounds, in response to a petition filed by Advocate Sheikh against Pu
.....more
CASE UDATES: Cross-border prisoners
Indian prisoner Bhavesh Parmar Kantilal, 32, who had strayed across the border by train in a disturbed state of mind in 2007, completed .....more
Bhavesh Parmar
Indian prisoner Bhavesh Parmar Kantilal, 32, who had strayed across the border by train in a disturbed state of mind in 2007, completed .....more
Pakistani fisherman dies in Indian jail
Jan Khaskheli
Karachi
Nawaz Ali Jat, a 32-year-old Pakistani fisherman, died on Wednesday after protracted illness in Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, Gujrat, India, a .....more
Jan KhaskheliKarachi
Nawaz Ali Jat, a 32-year-old Pakistani fisherman, died on Wednesday after protracted illness in Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, Gujrat, India, a .....more
Indian activists urge govt to return Pakistani prisoner’s body
Beena Sarwar
Karachi
Indian activists are pressuring their government to promptly release the body of Nawaz Ali Jat, the 32-year old Pakistani fisherman prisoner wh .....more
Beena SarwarKarachi
Indian activists are pressuring their government to promptly release the body of Nawaz Ali Jat, the 32-year old Pakistani fisherman prisoner wh .....more
46 fishermen to reach Wagah today
our correspondent
Karachi
The Indian government on Thursday released 46 Pakistani fishermen out of the promised 51. These fishermen will be received by a delegation .....more
our correspondentKarachi
The Indian government on Thursday released 46 Pakistani fishermen out of the promised 51. These fishermen will be received by a delegation .....more
Surjeet Singh to be released; efforts continue for Sarabjit
Law Minister Farooq H. Naik has signed a summary for the release of the Indian prisoner Surjeet Singh and forwarded it to the Interior Ministry with instructions to immed
.....more
Law Minister Farooq H. Naik has signed a summary for the release of the Indian prisoner Surjeet Singh and forwarded it to the Interior Ministry with instructions to immed
.....more
Pakistan releases 315 Indian fishermen
Pakistan has freed 315 Indian fishermen who have completed their sentences. The released prisoners will leave District Jail Malir, Karachi, on June 27, 2012 morning in ai
.....more
Pakistan has freed 315 Indian fishermen who have completed their sentences. The released prisoners will leave District Jail Malir, Karachi, on June 27, 2012 morning in ai
.....more
Dr Khalil Chishti lands in hometown Karachi
KARACHI: Virologist Dr Khalil Chishti, who spent 20 long years away from home in Indian jail, will be reuniting his family shortly in his hometown Karachi, Geo news repor
.....more
KARACHI: Virologist Dr Khalil Chishti, who spent 20 long years away from home in Indian jail, will be reuniting his family shortly in his hometown Karachi, Geo news repor
.....more
Dr Chishty: coming home and a big thank you
Last week, in response to the Indian Supreme Court's unpreceden .....more
Gratitude to those in India and Pakistan who have helped to bring Dr Chishty home alive
Last week, in response to the Indian Supreme Court's unpreceden .....more
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The Jang Group has entered into an agreement with the Times of India Group, the largest media group of India, to campaign for peace betw
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