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If you have an open mind, General, free this man : The Indian Express
Musharraf may not be able to sort out Kashmir but he can have Vikas Singh released from Peshawar jail This is one issue that`s getting lost in the hype and hoopla surrounding the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit. It`s not even being discussed as a confidence-building measure.
Musharraf may not be able to sort out Kashmir but he can have Vikas Singh released from Peshawar jail
This is one issue that’s getting lost in the hype and hoopla surrounding the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit. It’s not even being discussed as a confidence-building measure.
A desperate family in Lucknow has spent much of this month writing letters to secure the release of their son, Vikas Singh, from a Peshawar jail. His crime: he had entered Pakistan without valid documents — he was denied a visa — after travelling through 62 countries in 14 years on a peace mission. This was reported earlier this month in The Indian Express.
‘‘We are shocked and are taking every possible measure which is in our means to ensure your release from the jail. Have faith in God and things will change,’’ Surendra Singh wrote last week to his son, who was sentenced by a Pakistan court on May 31. But a deafening silence has greeted all their pleas to leaders and officials in Pakistan and India. They have written to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Indian high commissioner in Pakistan Vijay Nambiar, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the international human rights commission and even UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
‘‘I am ready to accept that there will be no response from Pakistan but the lack of concern on part of the Indian authorities is shocking,’’ says the despairing father. On June 23, Vikas’ mother, Vidya Singh, penned an emotional appeal to Pakistan’s first lady, Begum Sehba Musharraf: ‘‘Vikas is your son just as he is mine. As a mother, please come to his rescue. You will understand that for an ageing mother his son is the sole hope and a mother’s heart has nothing to do with ground realities, if any, tension or peace among two countries.’’ They are now eagerly waiting for a response.
‘‘If my pleas are not heard, I will go and camp in New Delhi and knock on every door,’’ says the father.
The family has not laid eyes on Vikas since November 1987 when he left on his globetrotting mission for Bangladesh, saying he would be back after 25 years.
This is one issue that’s getting lost in the hype and hoopla surrounding the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit. It’s not even being discussed as a confidence-building measure.
A desperate family in Lucknow has spent much of this month writing letters to secure the release of their son, Vikas Singh, from a Peshawar jail. His crime: he had entered Pakistan without valid documents — he was denied a visa — after travelling through 62 countries in 14 years on a peace mission. This was reported earlier this month in The Indian Express.
‘‘We are shocked and are taking every possible measure which is in our means to ensure your release from the jail. Have faith in God and things will change,’’ Surendra Singh wrote last week to his son, who was sentenced by a Pakistan court on May 31. But a deafening silence has greeted all their pleas to leaders and officials in Pakistan and India. They have written to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Indian high commissioner in Pakistan Vijay Nambiar, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the international human rights commission and even UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
‘‘I am ready to accept that there will be no response from Pakistan but the lack of concern on part of the Indian authorities is shocking,’’ says the despairing father. On June 23, Vikas’ mother, Vidya Singh, penned an emotional appeal to Pakistan’s first lady, Begum Sehba Musharraf: ‘‘Vikas is your son just as he is mine. As a mother, please come to his rescue. You will understand that for an ageing mother his son is the sole hope and a mother’s heart has nothing to do with ground realities, if any, tension or peace among two countries.’’ They are now eagerly waiting for a response.
‘‘If my pleas are not heard, I will go and camp in New Delhi and knock on every door,’’ says the father.
The family has not laid eyes on Vikas since November 1987 when he left on his globetrotting mission for Bangladesh, saying he would be back after 25 years.
Vikas had an inkling of what he was facing. ‘‘I will try to contact you on phone during my journey but it would be difficult because the situation here is not good. I will enter Pakistan soon but apprehend trouble,’’ wrote Vikas in his last letter from Dushambar on April 19, 2001