Kashmir Singh to be released today ...

... expected to reach India tomorrow!


Kashmir Singh (left) talks to Pakistani caretaker minister for human rights Ansar Burney. Singh is expected to return to India on Monday. (AFP)

LAHORE: Kashmir Singh, an Indian national who has been languishing in prison for the last 35 years on espionage charges, will be released today from the Central Jail, Lahore, and is expected to leave for India the next day.

The Ministry of Interior had issued release orders of Kashmir Singh on Saturday. The release orders have also been sent to the Ansar Burney Trust which are expected to reach the Trust's acting chairman, Syed Fahad Burney, on Monday (today). The organisation is expecting to take Kashmir Singh to India by road on Tuesday through the Wagah border, said Fahad Burney on Sunday.

He said the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Satyabrata Pal, spoke to Federal Minister for Human Rights Ansar Burney on Saturday and assured him that Singh's travel documents would be issued on Monday and he might return his home on Tuesday.

Paramjit Kaur, Singh's wife who has been struggling for his release since his arrest in 1973, will greet Singh at the Indian side of the Wagah border along with other family members and friends. The family members of Singh at the border will also receive Ansar Burney and staff of the Ansar Burney Trust.

Fahad Burney said many of Singh's excited old friends and well-wishers had started to gather at the border three days before his expected arrival there. He said Singh's release was being seen as a significant step towards improvement in Pakistani-Indian relations.

He said the trust was also working for the release of other Indian nationals, particularly Indian fishermen from the Pakistani prisons. He said the organisation was also searching for the Indian prisoners of war in Pakistani jails.

Singh was traced after 35 years by Ansar Burney during his visit to the Central Jail, Lahore. He had paid this visit as part of his work regarding prisoners' rights and prison reforms. A mercy petition, sent by the human rights minister, was accepted by President Musharraf and Singh was pardoned after 35 years. Ansar Burney thanked the President for his great humanitarian step and expressed hope for release of many other wrongfully imprisoned or forgotten sentenced prisoners in Pakistani prisons.

Ansar Burney has also moved a summary to the President for the creation of a national commission for human rights in Pakistan aimed at locating such prisoners, working for prisoners' rights, prison reforms and dealing with other human rights issues in Pakistan such as discrimination against minorities, human trafficking, slavery, women and children's rights.

This same Ansar Burney, Federal Minister for Human Rights, had proclaimed repeatedly on TV that Aitzaz Ahsan's detention was perfectly legal and did not violate his human rights!

What is this drama bazi?

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