The ordeal of an Indian national, Hamid Nehal Ansari, finally ended after a six years long detention and a legal battle by him and his family. He was released after completion of his three-year prison term from a high security Mardan Central Prison and was handed over to Indian authorities at Wagah, Lahore, on Dec 18 after which he reunited with his family on other side of the border.

While he was convicted by a field general court martial on Dec 17, 2015, on the charges of anti-state activities/espionage, he denied the charges and continued to insist that he had entered Pakistan in Nov 2012 to help out a Facebook female friend.

He remained missing for over three years and during that period his mother, Ms Fauzia Ansari, had launched a relentless struggle first for knowing his whereabouts and later for his safe return to India. His case had seen several twists and turns as from time to time different petitions were filed before the Peshawar High Court as well as the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED).

During his detention he was kept for most of the time in solitary confinement at Peshawar Central Prison and Mardan Central Prison, as the authorities were apprehensive that he might be harmed by fellow prisoners.

Mr Ansari was 27 and an MBA degree-holder when he visited Afghanistan on Nov 4, 2012 on valid tourist visa. He left Jalalabad for Peshawar on Nov 12, 2012 and entered Pakistan with a fake identity card in the name of Hamza sent to him by one of his Facebook friends from Karak, with whom he stayed in Karak for two days. On Nov 14, 2012, his friend left him at a hotel in Kohat following which he was arrested.

For over three years the whereabouts of Mr Ansari could not be traced. Finally, in Jan 2016 the high court was informed through a written reply by the ministry of defence that Mr Ansari was in military custody and was being tried by the court martial. His conviction was first reported in the media on Feb 15, 2016.

Ms Fauzia Ansari, who is a college teacher, had started a campaign on social media for release of her son. She had uploaded a petition on social media addressed to different important persons in India and Pakistan, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi; then prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif; Indian minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj; then Pakistani adviser to prime minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz and others, requesting them for their help in release of her son.

Initially, Ms Ansari had sent an application to the human rights cell of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which had forwarded the case to CIED in March 2014. The commission had on April 10, 2014, directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa home department to constitute a joint investigation team for tracing the whereabouts of Mr Ansari. It had also ordered the provincial police officer to register an FIR of his disappearance.

An FIR was registered on May 12, 2014 at police station KDA (Kohat Development Authority) on the complaint of Ms Ansari.

Later, Ms Ansari filed a habeas corpus petition in the PHC through a female freelance journalist, Ms Zeenat Shehzadi, who was given special power of attorney by her.

A little clue about Mr Ansari was first found by the end of 2014 when a police officer informed the high court that a suspected person with a fake Pakistani computerised identity card was taken into custody by the police in Kohat and subsequently handed over to intelligence agencies in Nov 2012.

A deputy attorney general, Mussaratullah Khan, had submitted a brief reply on behalf of the ministry of defence on Jan 13, 2016, wherein it was informed that he was being tried by court martial.

Following his conviction another petition was filed on his behalf in the high court seeking inclusion of his pre-conviction detention period in his prison term of three years under section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

However, the ministries of defence and foreign affairs had opposed his plea stating that he was involved in espionage/anti- state activities and was subject to Pakistan Army Act, therefore, the jurisdiction of high court was ousted in this case and his petition was not maintainable.

In their joint comments, they had stated that the trial court had duly considered the length of period spent by him in military custody awaiting finalization of instant trial, as required under Rule 53 of the Pakistan Army Act.

A few days before his release, on another petition filed by him the high court ordered the federal government to make arrangements for his release and return to India within a month of completion of his prison term, which was Dec 16.

Following his return to India, Hamid Nehal Ansari and his family have given interviews to different Indian televisions and newspapers. In one of his interviews, he has termed senior advocate Qazi Mohammad Anwar and human rights activist Ms Rukhshanda Naz as his saviours.

Qazi Anwar, a former senator and ex-president of Supreme Court Bar Association, had appeared before the high court in petitions filed in the court from time to time. As Mr Ansari’s mother could not visit Pakistan, Rukhshanda Naz pursued his cases and also visited him in the prison.

One of the most tragic aspects of his case was the hardships faced by Ms Zeenat Shehzadi, who had initially pursued his case when he was missing.

Ms Zeenat had herself gone missing on Aug 19, 2015, when she was taken away by armed men. The occurrence took place a few days before she had to appear before CIED in the complaint regarding disappearance of Mr Ansari. She remained missing for over two years and was subsequently set free in Oct 2017.

A legal expert said that there was so much mistrust between the two countries that the intelligence agencies were not buying his story of illegal entry to Pakistan for meeting a girl. He said that in such atmosphere of mistrust the inhabitants of both the countries should avoid acting in such an unwise manner, which resulted in problems for their entire family.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2018