Karachi : Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) has welcomed the consistent efforts by civil societyof India for the release of a Pakistani prisoner, virologist Dr. Khaleel Chishti.
Dr. Chishti has been under trial for nearly 19 years before a session’s court in Ajmir, Rajasthan. TheCourt finally pronounced sentence in January this year, convicting him to life imprisonment (14 years).
In a statement issued here on Monday, the PPC General Secretary B. M. Kutty said the civil society of India, after appeals by Amna Chishti, daughter of Dr. Chishti, has intensified the efforts to secure the release of Dr. Chishti.
On April 11, the Indian civil society activists had submitted an appeal to the president of India to exercise her power to “grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishment”, as well as the power to “suspend, remit or commute the sentence” of people convicted of offenses in the name of humanity, mercy and reciprocity to release Dr. Chishti.
In their appeal to the Indian president, the civil society and human rights activists mentioned that Dr. Chishti had gone to Ajmer in 1992 to look after his ailing mother. A family dispute involving his distant paternal relatives took an unseemly turn and he was arrested under IPC Section 302, 307/37, 302/34 and 324/34. “Our inquiry reveals that he was falsely implicated.” The trial took almost 20 years when he was finally convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in January of 2011. While he was out on bail for almost 18 years he never violated bail. He was always present whenever he was asked to report to the police or the courts.The appeal stated that Dr. Chishti is nearly 80 years old and has suffered serious health problems including heart problems and an un-healed hip fracture that rendered him unable to move on his own. Heis now in the prison hospital. His family is concerned that he may not survive much longer in the jailin his condition and wishes to see him return home to spend last days of his life. On the day he was convicted two persons had to pick him up and carry him inside the jail in Ajmer.Kutty hoped that soon Dr. Chishti would be released and join his family in Pakistan as a result of joint efforts by civil societies of India and Pakistan. “We salute the efforts of Indian civil societyfor their efforts to release the Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails, especially their consistent efforts for release of Dr. Chishti,” the statement added. PPI
