Indian national Hamid Ansari, who was lodged in Kohat Central Jail in Pakistan, is being repatriated to India after six long years of being kept a prisoner after a military court in Pakistan had accused him on charges of espionage and convicted him for allegedly being an Indian spy.
Ansari’s parents – Fauzia and Nehal Ansari – who are residents of Mumbai, have been moving pillar and post, trying to bring their son home, ever since he first left for Kabul in 2012 – the journey that led him to cross the border "illegally”, to find the woman he loved and rescue her from being forcibly married to someone else.
Ansari was caught in a town near Peshawar in 2012 by the Pakistan security forces and was arrested in 2015, after being accused of being an Indian spy. Until then, he had been “missing to the world” and his family only learnt of his three-year jail term, fourteen months after he was first convicted.
Despite repeated attempts by the Ministry of External Affairs and several human rights activists – all of whom Fauzia and Nehal had reached out to for help – for ‘consular access’ to Ansari so that he can be brought home, the Pakistan government refused to budge, until he completed his three-year jail term, which ended on 15 December.
In fact, even after this, the Pakistan Interior Ministry said that it needed one more month to draw up the paperwork for Ansari’s release from prison. It was only due to the collective pressure of the Indian government, Ansari’s lawyers and several activists that the Pakistan government was forced to agree to release and extradite Ansari to India, as per standard procedure.
As Ansari’s family and well-wishers wait for him to finally come home after six long difficult years, here’s a look at the ‘heroes’ – the driving force – behind the case, who helped bring him back.
Jatin Desai
Mumbai-based journalist-activist Jatin Desai, had made it his mission to help bring Ansari home to his parents. Back in 2012, Ansari had reached out to him for his help on crossing the border into Pakistan, so that he could find the woman he had met online and fallen in love with.
However, Desai had told Ansari that this was an impossible feat, and had even asked him to move on, but to no avail, Scroll reported.
Later, when news of Ansari’s arrest hit the papers, Desai decided to work relentlessly into bringing him back to India. Being the general secretary of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), having worked for over three decades as a journalist and having visited Pakistan half-a-dozen times, Desai had important contacts across the border, Mumbai Mirror reported.
Combining forces with Fauzia, who by then had reached out to Sushma Swaraj, who was sympathetic to a mother’s cause and had taken up Ansari’s case with Pakistani diplomats, their efforts led to the case being taken up by Pakistani rights lawyers Rakshanda Naz and Qazi Mohammed Anwar, the report added.
A resident of Chembur, 62-year-old Desai told Mumbai Mirror:
“...I have seen enough innocent people from both sides suffering in each other’s jails. With a little effort and plenty of common sense, we can put an end to this.”
Rakshanda Naz & Qazi Mohammed Anwar
A Pakistan rights lawyer and a pioneer of women’s rights in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Rakshanda Naz was approached by the combined forces of Desai and Fauzia, for her legal help in Ansari’s case.
Naz worked with Aurat Foundation between 1993 and 2009, and then established the Legal Aid and Awareness Services, where 10 women with backgrounds in law will be trained to assist women in real legal battles.
On Fauzia’s appeal, Naz took up the case and even came to care for Ansari, as she would her own son, Desai had told Mumbai Mirror. Standing for Ansari’s innocence and working relentlessly towards his repatriation, Naz even oversaw his release – on Tuesday – and ensured that he was given proper food and clothes before he went back to India, The Hindu reported.
Octogenarian lawyer, Qazi Mohammed Anwar, who was representing Ansari, didn’t take a single penny from his parents, The Hindu report added. Neither did Naz, for that matter.
Fauzia met Anwar during one of her visits to veteran advocate Majeed Memon’s office.
“I visited advocate Majeed Memon’s office frequently, and it was during one of those visits that I was introduced to Anwar, who happened to be in town. After that things began to fall in place.”Fauzia told The Indian Express
Anwar is a former attorney general, constitutional lawyer, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (SCBAP), a former senator and a former activist in the Pakistan Peoples Party. Anwar also served as the additional deputy secretary general of Awami National Party and focuses greatly on the independence of the judiciary from the government.
It was also Anwar who had informed a top court in Pakistan, that despite it being the end of his term, the Ministry of Interior and prison authorities had been completely silent about his release and deportation to India.
Speaking about both Naz and Anwar’s contributions to help her son return home, Fauzia told The Indian Express:
“I am thankful to god that I came across so many good people during this journey. Anwar and Naz helped me on humanitarian grounds. They never charged me any money, instead they would hand us cash whenever we went to Pakistan.”
Sushma Swaraj & BJP Leader Krishna Hegde
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, has played an important role in bringing Ansari back. After Fauzia approached Swaraj the first time with the case, she took it up with some Pakistani diplomats and asked them to look into the same.
More than that, she has repeatedly reached out to Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan, requesting ‘consular access’ to Ansari. Speaking to The Quint, Fauzia said that the MEA had requested for consular access to Ansari at least 90 different times, a call which fell on the deaf ears of the Pakistan government.
Swaraj had also personally met with Ansari’s family in 2016, assuring them of all possible help to bring him back home to them.
BJP Activist Krishna Hedge, who is a former Congress legislator, has also done his fair share in securing Ansari’s release. Just last month, in November, he had appealed to Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, to release and allow Ansari to return to India.
"A humble request to speak to Prime Minister Imran Khan to expedite release of Hamid Ansari, who is serving term in a Pakistan jail. Hamid completes his jail term in mid-December. His release will bring relief and joy to his aged parents," said BJP activist Krishna Hegde, a former Congress legislator,” he had told PTI, in November.
As Ansari leaves Pakistan towards the Wagah border, one must recognize the driving and relentless force of these individuals – and not to mention the unyielding belief and efforts of his family – who have worked tirelessly to ensure, that the young man- now 31- comes back home.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)