The heartwarming scenes of Hamid Nehal Ansari’s return to India on Tuesday have once again highlighted the long-standing, gruesome issue of Indian prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails. Several Indian prisoners have been locked in those jails, while few of them are recognised by the Pakistan government and some are not.
Interestingly, the data reveals that the Indian government has released more numbers of Pakistani prisoners than Indian prisoners returning home. As reported by DNA, the new data released by the Ministry of External Affairs reveals that Pakistan has released only 14 Indian civilian prisoners in the last 4 years, while India released 124 Pakistani civilian prisoners, making it only one Indian being released for nine Pakistani civilian release.
In 2018 itself, Pakistan has released just 2 Indian civilian prisoners including Hamid Ansari while New Delhi has released 10 Pakistani civilian prisoners. For every prisoner released by Pakistan in 2018, India has released five.
Reportedly, there were 108 Pakistan fishermen and 249 Pakistan civilian prisoners in India’s custody, while Pakistan has acknowledged the custody of 418 fishermen and 53 civilian prisoners believed to be Indian nationals.
The curious case of Indian prisoners in Pakistan is a testimony of the fact that despite the countless efforts by the Indian government to engage Pakistan peacefully while ignoring the terror it inflicts on the country have not yielded any results. The “Peaceniks”, stuck with Nehruvian pacifism, abuse the Indian government in and out for pursuing what they claim to be a “muscular policy” have to understand the fact that the terrorist state of Pakistan simply does not have any interest in dealing with India peacefully, contrary to their usual claim of having a desire for peace talks.
The ‘Peaceniks’, a strange ‘cabal’ of leftists, journalists, NGOs, former politicians have always exhibited their love for the terrorist state of Pakistan despite it inflicting severe damage on the country by perpetrating terror. Over the years, the ‘Peaceniks’ have gradually legitimised the terror it inflicts on India. In their hurry to compliment Pakistani establishment, they have often resorted to deliberate undermining of the Indian counterparts.
Recently, the ‘Michelangelo of Indian Journalism’- Rajdeep Sardesai, known for his twists and spin to the facts had thanked Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan for the release of Hamid Nehal Ansari despite the fact that Pakistan Prime Minister had no role in his release. In fact, the Imran Khan government had referred Ansari as an ‘Indian Spy’ and had accused him of involving in “anti-state crimes and forging documents”. Pakistan had to release Ansari because his jail term of three years was over and a Pakistani court had ordered the government to deport him to India. It is still incomprehensible to fathom why Rajdeep Sardesai expressed his gratitude to Imran Khan even though his government had acted against Ansari’s interest. Interestingly, the Pakistan-loving cabal has yet to acknowledge the role by the Indian government to bring back Ansari back to the country.
The Government of India had made 95 formal requests to Pakistan for consular access to Hamid after his arrest, but it was not granted even once. In six years that Hamid was in Pakistan, three years during before trial and three years as the jail term, his family could talk to him only once.
In fact, the present government has to be lauded for the efforts it has put in to initiate a dialogue with Pakistan as soon as it took reigns of the power at the centre. Prime Minister Modi attempted to establish a relationship with Pakistan by inviting then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his swearing ceremony. The astonishing stopover by PM Modi in Pakistan to meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif has to be the greatest initiative taken by the Indian prime minister after the 2001 Agra summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had at least made an honest attempt to revive talks with Pakistan despite Modi’s core support base detesting the thought of him indulging in any peace overtures with respect to Pakistan. New Delhi’s intent to initiate peace talks with the terrorist state of Pakistan was met with attacks on Pathankot and Uri.
India has been a victim of state-sponsored terror of Pakistan for a very long time now. Even though the initiatives like the release of civilian prisoners are welcoming, it has to be considered purely on a humanitarian consideration rather than overplaying it as a noble act of Pakistan. The release of Hamid Ansari is just an eyewash by the Pakistani establishment to cover up their atrocities on Indians. The Indian ‘Peaceniks’ should be awake and hold their eternal love Pakistan accountable for the violence they perpetuate rather than getting deceived by them again.
