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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 2,2020

New Delhi, Feb 2: The Congress on Sunday released its manifesto for Delhi polls, promising to implement unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000-7,500 per month and cashback schemes for water and power consumers, if voted to power.

Presenting the manifesto, Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra said the party will provide free power up to 300 unit per month.

The manifesto also committed to spend 25 per cent budget each year on fighting pollution and improving transport facilities.

An unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000 for graduates and Rs 7,500 for post graduates per month will be provided under the Yuva Swabhiman Yojna, he said.

The Congress will launch flagship cashback schemes for power and water supply to benefit consumers saving these resources. The party, if voted to power, will open 100 Indira Canteens to provide subsidised meals at Rs 15, Chopra said.

The Congress will challenge the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Supreme Court and demand the Centre to withdraw the law. The party will also not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the existing form of the National Population Register (NPR), if voted to power in Delhi.

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News Network
August 8,2020

Kozhikode, Aug 8: A family of five, returning to their hometown at Koducalli in Kozhikode from Dubai, were aboard the fateful Air India Express flight that crash-landed at the Kozhikode airport claiming at least 18 lives on Friday.

Saifudheen, 40, is a businessman in Dubai. During the vacation when schools were closed here, his wife Fasalunnisa travelled, along with their children Muhammad Shahil, Fathima Sana and Aysha Shanza, to meet her husband.

On Friday, they were all travelling in the Air India aircraft to Kozhikode.

All five have received injuries and have been admitted to Baby Memorial Hospital Kozhikode except Sana, who is admitted to Al Shifa Hospital at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram.

"Saifudheen is my uncle. He and his family members were returning from Dubai when this unfortunate incident occurred. We were informed about the mishap at 8 pm. Now the family members have been shifted to Baby Memorial Hospital and everyone is fine now," Muhammad Salih, nephew of Saifudheen said.

The death toll in the flight crash landing incident at Kozhikode International Airport in Kerala rose to 18, including two pilots, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday.

The minister said that he will visit the Kozhikode airport to take stock of the situation.

Two special relief flights have been arranged from Delhi and one from Mumbai for rendering humanitarian assistance to all the passengers and the family members.

Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Flight Safety Departments have reached to investigate the incident, the Air India Express stated.

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News Network
February 9,2020

Srinagar, Feb 9: Authorities on Sunday snapped mobile internet services in Kashmir as a precautionary measure to prevent any law and order disturbance on the seventh death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, officials said.

The mobile internet services were suspended early in the morning as the authorities apprehended violence in the valley in view of the bandh call given by separatist outfits, the officials said.

The authorities had restored 2G internet services in Kashmir on January 25, more than five months after snapping all communication facilities in the valley following abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year.

Police on Saturday lodged an FIR against the banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) for calling a strike on Afzal Guru's death anniversary.

Guru was hanged in 2013 inside Tihar jail for his role in the Parliament attack in December 2001.

Two journalists were summoned by police for reporting the JKLF press release, which had called for strike on Sunday and Tuesday -- the death anniversary of the outfit founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat.

They were let off after five hours of questioning. Bhat was hanged in 1984 and is buried inside Tihar jail.

Meanwhile, normal life in Kashmir was affected due to the strike, the officials said.

Markets and business establishments remained closed, while public transport was largely off the roads, they said.

There have been no reports of any untoward incident from anywhere in the valley so far, the officials added.

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