The issue of plight of Pakistani prisoners languishing in Indian jails may overshadow the forthcoming Pak-India ministerial talks scheduled on May 21 in Islamabad. Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Pakistan to hold a wrap up meeting with his Pakistani counter-part Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the fourth round of Composite Dialogue concluded last year.
Lack of response from Indian side to Pakistani requests for granting consular access to Pakistani prisoners, their miserable conditions, deaths of two young Pakistani nationals, Khalid Mehmood and Muhammed Akram, in a row during the past two months under mysterious circumstances and dilly dallying attitude on providing information about their number and status have become one of the biggest impediments in improving bilateral relations in the recent months.
This all happened despite the fact that Pakistan released an Indian spy, Kashmir Singh, in March last, postponement of execution of Sarabjit Singh, who is on a death row for his involvement in bomb blasts and providing consular access to all 400 Indian fishermen in Pakistani jails.
Lack of reciprocity from the Indian side in the same spirit in the present situation when the two countries are engaged in dialogue process to normalise bilateral relations, has sent a wave of grave concern in corridors of power in Islamabad as well as in the public.
Under the bilateral agreements inked by New Delhi and Islamabad, India is bound to inform Pakistan whenever Pakistani nationals are taken into custody. It is unfortunate that the names of Khalid Mehmood and Muhammed Akram who died in Gurgaon jail and Amritsar jail respectively were not included in the list of 147 Pakistani prisoners provided by India to Islamabad on March 31. Nobody knows when and where they were taken into custody by Indian authorities.
The miseries being suffered by civilian prisoners are a pure humanitarian issue, which has thrown a challenge to human rights activists on both sides of the border.
It was unfortunate that Pakistan High Commission's repeated requests have fallen on deaf ears so far for providing complete information about Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.
Pakistan has also sought consular access to over 200 Pakistanis and repatriation of 14 fishermen whose modalities for the release have already been completed. New Delhi has not yet repatriated over 50 prisoners whose travelling documents have been issued by the Pakistan High Commission.
Several prisoners due to long imprisonment, improper food, lack of medical assistance and other amenities have lost their mental balance and they do not recognise their near and dear ones whenever they meet them.
Hundreds of family members of these prisoners are passing through great agony and uncertainty back in Pakistan whether they would be able to see their near and dear ones languishing in Indian jails. It becomes more heartrending when one comes to know about the reasons for what these poor chaps have been captive, particular those who have already completed their prison terms.
The case of young Pakistani lady Saba Shahzadi is characteristic of the miseries on minor pretexts faced by many Pakistanis who visit India. A UK-based couple Arif Butt and Saba Shahzadi had dreamt of spending their first wedding anniversary at Taj Mahal.
They flew to India in December last year and headed for Agra.
However, their dream turned into nightmare when Ms Shahzadi was put behind bars for not being in possession of visa for Agra. After hectic efforts, she was released after three days but barred from leaving the country till the court settled her case. Even the letter by Indian Consulate in Birmingham confirming of visa for Agra failed to produce immediate results. It was only repeated interventions by the Pakistan High Commission, the couples agony ended after three months and they were able to fly out, promising never to return to India.
The diplomatic sources said the situation on prisoners has worsened to an extent that it can overshadow the forthcoming bilateral talks being held in Islamabad. Addressing the issue at this critical time can prove to be the biggest Confidence Building Measure, the sources added.