ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly condemned the extrajudicial killing of a Pakistani civilian prisoner who was incarcerated in India-held Kashmir’s Kot Bhalwal Jail since 2006.
Islamabad called upon New Delhi to immediately share details of the incident, APP reported.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Friday, the Indian charge d’affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a strong protest was lodged against the “extrajudicial killing of a Pakistani prisoner, Muhammad Ali Hussain, by Indian occupation forces in a fake encounter that took place in the Arnia, IIOJK (Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir)”.
Hussain remained in held Kashmir’s jail since 2006.
“The Indian diplomat was told that Mr Hussain’s death under mysterious circumstances at a location away from the prison has once again substantiated Pakistan’s long-standing position that Indian Occupation Forces in the IIOJK are routinely involved in undertaking choreographed attacks and extrajudicial killings of Pakistani and Kashmiri prisoners,” the statement said.
Brother of slain man claims he was tortured by Indian authorities
It added that the narrative being spun that Hussain had allegedly attacked the Indian forces and attempted to escape when he was being taken to a suspected weapons’ smuggling site was not only fallacious but deceptive.
“The reality is that Hussain’s death was nothing but cold-blooded murder.”
Liaqat, the elder brother of Hussain, rejected the Indian police claim. He said his brother had remained under Indian detention on concocted charges and was taken out of the Kot Bhalwal jail only to be eliminated, echoing the FO’s remarks.
The FO said Pakistan “outrightly” rejected the “implausible explanation” proffered in the case and demanded the Indian government must immediately share details of the incident, including a credible post-mortem report.
The report, the FO said, would help determine the cause of death and undertake a transparent investigation to bring to account whoever was responsible for the prisoner’s murder.
Liaqat, a grocery items supplier, said Hussain contacted the family several times, telling them that the Indian army and police subjected him to severe torture.
Liaqat, however, was not sure about the circumstances leading to his brother’s landing in occupied Jammu’s jail.
In 2007, Liaqat said, an official of the Jammu jail facilitated a brief chat between the mother and her son on phone. “Ali told the mother that he was in a Kashmir jail, facing multiple criminal charges, but assured her he would be home soon.”
“My mother passed away in October 2012 in desperate wait for her son,” Liaqat said with tears rolling down his cheeks.
“On the evening of August 18, one of my acquaintances informed me that Indian police had killed Ali in a fake encounter,” Liaqat said. “My brother was killed for no sin.”
According to the FO statement, the government of India has also been called upon to ensure prompt and expeditious repatriation of the mortal remains of the deceased to Pakistan, as per the wishes of his family.
Moreover, it raised “serious concerns” over the safety, security and well-being of other Pakistani prisoners in Indian custody.
The Indian charge d’affaires was reminded of the case of Zia Mustafa, another Pakistani prisoner, who was “murdered by Indian authorities in a similar fake encounter last year”, the statement read.
It reiterated Pakistan’s call to the international community to hold India accountable for its “gross and systematic violations of international humanitarian law” and ensure that Pakistani and Kashmiri prisoners under Indian custody were not “expended as cannon fodder in the execution of India’s nefarious designs in the IIOJK”.
Muhammad Sadaqat in Haripur also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2022
