Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and rights activist Ansar Burney have been requested to play their much-needed role for the early release of those 700 Pakistanis who have been languishing in Oman prisons on different charges, for long. "Many among these inmates have completed their term in jails but the Oman government is reluctant to release them," said Malik Atif Khalil, a village nazim of Achini Bala Peshawar, talking to media persons, here on Sunday.
He further said that the prisoners belong to various parts of KP province, including the tribal districts, especially of Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Parachinar, Swat, Charsadda and some other parts of the country. He said the complainants had apprised him that their relatives had gone to Oman for jobs to feed their families, but they had been arrested there. The village nazim said that most of these people were the sole bread earners of their families and their relatives were leading very miserable life due to financial crisis. On the nature of charges, he said, some of them had been jailed due to expiry of documents, illegal border-crossing, etc.
"The relatives of the prisoners will observe a sit-in in Islamabad if the government doesn't take practical steps for release of the prisoners, immediately," he said.
Malik Atif said it was unfortunate that Pakistanis continue to remain in the prisons while other countries such as India and Bangladesh had already got their citizens released by providing them with all legal assistance. He said many Pakistanis had been put behind the bars for 12 years and also suffered from diseases but no treatment was provided to them and rather subjected to violence.
"No one is in Oman to plead the cases of these prisoners and get them released; otherwise, most of them had completed the term they were convicted for," he said.
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