Parents of jailed Indian seek audience with Sartaj Aziz

AMRITSAR: Years ago, Hamid Ansari believed love would set him free. Today, after spending ages in a Peshawar prison, he knows that isn’t always the case.

The parents of the Mumbaibased engineer have reached Amritsarinthehopethatameeting with Pakistani top official Sartaj Aziz would help secure his release.

Ansari’s mother Fauzia has been running from pillar to post for getting him pardoned since his arrest in November 2012. On Saturday, she was spotted carrying a placard stating: “Honourable Aziz saheb, you are here on a peace mission. Let mother meet son.”

Ansari was just 27 when he left for Afghanistan in search of a job on November 5, 2012. Later, his family came to know that he had fallen in love with a woman from Kohat in Pakistan. The youth crossed the Pakistani border to prevent her from marrying another man, only to end up behind bars for forgery and illegal trespass.

Ansari’s parents are being supported by the Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, an NGO.

His father, Nihal Ahmed, was equally fervent in his appeal for mercy. “We last spoke to our son on November 10, 2012. We are here to appeal to the Pakistan government that Hamid be freed because he has already served the three-year sentence imposed upon him,” he said.

The engineer’s mother said she fears for Ansari’s safety, considering that he has been attacked by fellow-inmates at least thrice since his ordeal began. “At least give us a Pakistani visa, so we can see our son. We applied over 20 times, but we don’t even know if they are even processing our requests,” she said.

Aziz is Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s advisor on foreign affairs.

FAUZIA, WAS SPOTTED CARRYING A PLACARD STATING,’HONOURABLE AZIZ SAHEB...LET MOTHER MEET SON’