Topic Of The Day:-“Long Road Home: Hamid Nihal Ansari’s Return”
India And Pakistan Should Adopt A More Humane Approach To Each Other’s Prisoners
The return to India of Hamid Nihal Ansari, an engineer from Mumbai who spent six years in a Pakistani prison, is cause for cheer on the otherwise bleak landscape of India-Pakistan relations. The plight of the young man, who had crossed over into Pakistan from Afghanistan in 2012 on a mission to save a woman he had befriended online and been arrested for espionage, had caught public attention in both countries. Subsequent investigations proved his innocence on all charges other than entering Pakistan illegally, but even so, the authorities there put him through a trial in a military court. In December 2015, the court sentenced him to three years in prison. All through hisordeal, Mr. Ansari’s parents kept alive the struggle to bring him back, without letting the emotional and financial costs deter them. To its credit, the Ministry of External Affairs appliedsustained diplomatic pressure on Islamabad, first to demand information on Mr. Ansari’s whereabouts and then for a fair trial and consular access, which was never granted. The Government of Pakistan must also be commended for expediting Mr. Ansari’s release after he completed his sentence on December 15, although it had received another month from a Peshawar court to finish the formalities. Above all, credit goes to citizens’ groups in both countries that helped the family, particularly lawyers and human rights activists in Pakistan who worked pro bono to ensure Mr. Ansari’s release.
Given the downturn in bilateral relations, further complicated by the international case India ispursuing against Pakistan over the conviction of Kulbhushan Jadhav, and instances of prisoners like Sarabjit Singh dying in Pakistani jails, it is nothing short of a miracle that Mr. Ansari has returned home safe and sound. New Delhi would do well to acknowledge the Imran Khan government’s gesture in releasing him. Both India and Pakistan must dedicate themselves to freeing hundreds of other prisoners who remain in each other’s jails, many of whom have completed their sentences but await long processes of identification and repatriation. According to government figures, Pakistan holds 471 Indian prisoners while India holds 357 Pakistani prisoners, a large number of them fishermen who inadvertently trespassed into each other’s waters. The two countries must also revive the biannual meetings of the Joint Judicial Committee on Prisoners as agreed to a decade ago; the committee has not met since 2013. Its last recommendations, that women and children as well as prisoners with mental health issues be sent back to their countries on humanitarian grounds, are yet to be implemented. There is little to be gained by holding these prisoners hostage to bitter bilateral ties and prolonging the misery of their impoverished families. There needs to be a more humane approach.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) cheer
Meaning : shout for joy or in praise or encouragement.
Synonyms : optimism
Antonyms : sadness
Example : “she cheered from the sidelines”
2) bleak
Meaning : (of an area of land) lacking vegetation and exposed to the elements(adj).
Synonyms : gloomy
Antonyms : bright
Example : “a bleak and barren moor”
3) plight
Meaning : a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation.
Synonyms : quandary
Antonyms : advantage
Example : “we must direct our efforts towards relieving the plight of children living in poverty”
4) espionage
Meaning : the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information.
Synonyms : spying
Example : “the camouflage and secrecy of espionage”
5) ordeal
Meaning : a very unpleasant and prolonged experience.
Synonyms : tribulation
Antonyms : delight
Example : “the ordeal of having to give evidence”
6) deter
Meaning : discourage (someone) from doing something by instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.
Synonyms : hinder
Antonyms : support
Example : “only a health problem would deter him from seeking re-election”
7) sustained
Meaning : continuing for an extended period or without interruption.
Synonyms : stable
Antonyms : destroyed
Example : “several years of sustained economic growth”
8) diplomatic
Meaning : of or concerning diplomacy.
Synonyms : tactful
Antonyms : impolite
Example : “diplomatic relations with Britain were broken”
9) complicated
Meaning : consisting of many interconnecting parts or elements; intricate.
Synonyms : intricate
Antonyms : simple
Example : “a complicated stereo system”
10) pursuing
Meaning : follow or chase (someone or something).
Synonyms : trailing
Antonyms : leading
Example : “the officer pursued the van”
11) conviction
Meaning : a formal declaration by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law that someone is guilty of a criminal offence.
Synonyms : certitude
Antonyms : doubt
Example : “she had a previous conviction for a similar offence”
12) repatriation
Meaning : the return of someone to their own country.
Synonyms : return
Antonyms : exile
Example : “the voluntary repatriation of refugees”
13) inadvertently
Meaning : without intention; accidentally.
Synonyms : accidentally
Antonyms : advertently
Example : “his name had been inadvertently omitted from the list”
14) trespassed
Meaning : enter someone’s land or property without permission.
Synonyms : infringed
Antonyms : retreated
Example : “there is no excuse for trespassing on railway property”
15) revive
Meaning : restore to life or consciousness.
Synonyms : restore
Antonyms : destroy
Example : “both men collapsed, but were revived”
16) implemented
Meaning : put (a decision, plan, agreement, etc.) into effect.
Synonyms : applied
Antonyms : exempted
Example : “the scheme to implement student loans”
17) hostage
Meaning : a person seized or held as security for the fulfilment of a condition.
Synonyms : prisoner
Antonyms : hesitation
Example : “they were held hostage by armed rebels”
18) impoverished
Meaning : make (a person or area) poor.
Synonyms : poor
Antonyms : affluent
Example : “the wars had impoverished him”
