Jailed in Pak on charge of spying, Indian techie Hamid Ansari finally returns home

News Network
December 19, 2018

Chandigarh/Mumbai, Dec 19: It was an emotional reunion with his parents when 33-year-old Hamid Nehal Ansari, an Indian software engineer, entered India through Punjab's  Wagah-Attari border with Pakistan, after six years on Tuesday evening.

He had languished for years in a Pakistani jail after being caught while entering the neighbouring country and being charged with "spying".

As soon as he entered, he hugged his parents - Nehal and Fauzia Ansari - and all three knelt, bowed down to touch the Indian soil in reverence.

His brother, Dr Khalid Ansari, too was there to receive him.

On Monday, Hamid was released after completion of his prison term and repatriated to India.

On Wednesday, he is expected to visit New Delhi and then after a brief stopover would proceed for Mumbai. A resident of Jogeshwari western suburbs of India, he had entered Pakistan in 2012.

Love gone wrong

Ansari’s story is of love gone wrong, for which he had to pay a price. Ansari’s parents and family members waited with bated breath at the border. As Hamid walked his way from Pakistan, he hugged his mother tightly. Tears rolled down his father’s eyes as he stood speechless.

As the family walked further away from the Pakistan border, Hamid’s mother Fauzia kept her hands tightly wrapped in her son’s arm refusing to let go of him. As she choked out of emotion, Hamid gave her water to drink. Hamid was then taken by the authorities concerned for necessary questioning and documentation.

The Mumbai resident was arrested by agencies in Pakistan in 2012 after he allegedly entered northwest Pakistan illegally to meet a woman he befriended online. He was tried by a military court and given a three-year sentence for possessing a fake Pakistani identity card on December 15, 2015.

Panacea

Hamid’s release comes close on the heels of the opening of the Kartarpur corridor with Pakistan, viewed as a panacea for the animosity between the two nations. The techie went missing after being reportedly taken into custody in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa area. His mother had filed a habeas corpus petition through Pakistani lawyers after details of his whereabouts emerged.

For the sake of his love, Hamid went to Pakistan without a visa. He forged documents to enter Pakistan. His mother said, Hamid’s release is a victory for humanity. The ministry of external affairs had raised the issue of Ansari in a formal communication sent to Pakistan on December 11 amid apprehensions that he would be held for a longer period.

"Finally Hamid arrived...," Jatin Desai, general secretary, Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), said.

"The parents' resolve and patience was one of the major aspects....their prayers have been answered," he added.

Hamid, who had gone to Kabul, Afghanistan for a job interview in November 2012 was befriended on Facebook and got close to a Pakistani girl.

Hamid was believed to have reached Kohat in Pakistan in an attempt to save this Facebook friend, who reportedly was being forced to marry someone twice her age following a Jirga decision.

Hamid crossed over from Afghanistan border in Jalalabad to Peshawar, Pakistan - where he was caught by the Pakistani agencies.

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News Network
February 4,2020

New Delhi, Feb 4: Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday accused Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party of not implementing the central government's schemes in the national capital.

Addressing an election rally in Moti Bagh, he also sought to allay fears over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), assuring the gathering that the legislation will not take away anyone's citizenship.

Singh alleged that the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government did not do anything in the last five years.

The AAP had promised to add 5,000 buses to the fleet of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), but instead the number has come down by 1,000, he claimed.

The Union minister said the AAP dispensation did not implement central schemes in Delhi fearing that the popularity of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government will grow among Delhiites.

Pension schemes and the Centre's flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, are some of those that the Kejriwal government did not allow to be implemented in Delhi.

On the anti-CAA protests, Singh said that the opposition parties have been spreading "lies" about amended citizenship law and the National Population Register (NPR).

"The CAA will not take away anyone's citizenship. The opposition parties are spreading lies about the CAA. There should be no such politics over this. Some people are trying to write the history of the country with the ink of hatred," he said.

The culture of India is such that it considers the entire world one family, he said.

Delhi goes to polls on February 8. The results will be declared on February 11.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Gurugram, Jul 12: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the whole world was appreciating India's successful fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking ahead of the mega tree plantation drive of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Officers' Training Academy in Kadarpur village here, the Home Minister also lauded the contribution of security forces in the battle against COVID-19 in the country.

"India is one of the most populous countries. Everyone thought how will a country like India battle COVID-19, there were apprehensions but today the whole world is witnessing how one of the most successful battles against COVID-19 has been fought here," the Home Minister said.

"In India's battle against COVID-19, all of our security forces are playing a huge role, nobody can deny it. Today, I salute these corona warriors. They have proved that they not only know how to fight terrorism but also against COVID with help of people," he added.

The Union Home Minister said that many jawans have given up their lives during the COVID-19 crisis phase and paid tributes to them.

"I have talked to families of those jawans and today once again I thank them, your sacrifice will not go waste. Whenever the history of the human race's fight against COVID-19 is written, the contribution of India's security forces will be mentioned in golden ink," he said.

He also hailed the plantation drive and said that trees planted today should be taken care of by the jawans till they reach maturity, he added the trees chosen for plantation today consisted mostly those which had a long life and would help the generations to come.

Together the CAPFs have targeted to plant around 10 lakh tree saplings across the country today. Heads of all the CAPFs or their representatives were present in the event held at Gurugram. 

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News Network
March 11,2020

Jaipur, Mar 11: A 85-year-old man in Jaipur, who had returned from Dubai on February 28, has tested positive for coronavirus, a state government official said on Wednesday.

He was found presumptive positive in the first test on Tuesday and hence, a second test was conducted with fresh samples, the reports of which arrived late Tuesday night, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh, said.

“The man who travelled to Dubai has been tested positive for coronavirus. It has been confirmed now,” Singh said.

“We have also got the manifest of the Spicejet flight he took from Dubai to Jaipur and are doing due diligence on that,” the official said, adding that intense contact tracing was underway.

The man has been kept in isolation at the SMS Hospital here.

“The man came to the hospital on Monday with symptoms of the virus. After the first test, his wife and son too have been kept in isolation at the hospital. The two, however, do not have coronavirus affliction symptoms,” Singh said.

A total of 235 people who came in contact with the octogenarian and his family have already been traced and are being monitored, he said.

Other contacts are also being traced, Singh added.

An Italian couple, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, are also admitted in the hospital but their condition is improving, he said.

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