ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is actively pursuing the case of Sumaira — a Pakistani woman languishing in an Indian prison for nearly five years — with India, the Foreign Office said on Thursday.

In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi were taking all possible steps to secure early release and repatriation of Sumaira and her four-year-old daughter, Foreign Office Spokesman Asim Iftikhar told Dawn.

He said the Foreign Office received the confirmation of her nationality from the interior ministry on Feb 17 and it was conveyed in writing to India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) the same day through Pakistan’s High Commission in New Delhi.

According to Pakistan’s High Commission spokesman in New Delhi Jamil Baitu, the Pakistani mission followed up with the Indian side on the morning of Feb 18. Later in the afternoon, charge d’affaires Aftab Hasan Khan along with the counsellor concerned visited MEA authorities in person and asked them to deal with the matter not as a normal case but as an urgent matter of humanitarian concern.

On Thursday, Pakistan’s High Commission gave a reminder in writing to the MEA conveying the urgency of the matter. Mr Khan also spoke with the MEA officials concerned by phone on Thursday afternoon.

“Pakistan’s High Commission awaits a positive response from the MEA on humanitarian grounds,” he said, adding that travel documents would instantly be issued the moment the Indian side indicates Sumaira’s release or repatriation.

Foreign Office spokesman Iftikhar also called Senator Irfan Siddiqui to update him on efforts for the release of Sumaira, the wife of Shahab.

Mr Iftikhar hoped that she would soon return to Pakistan along with her daughter, Sana Fatima.

Talking to Dawn, Senator Irfanul Haq Siddiqui said that following his telephonic conversation with the foreign office spokesman, he had withdrawn his decision to move a privilege motion against him. He, however, said the information available with him was alarming and spoke volumes about the criminal negligence of the interior ministry.

He said Sumaira, daughter of Abdul Rehman, was awaiting confirmation of her nationality since June 2018 after the completion of her sentence, but the citizenship certificate was issued to her only after he raised the issue in the Senate for a second time on Feb 17.

He said hundreds of Pakistanis were languishing in Indian prisons and asked the interior ministry to take urgent steps to secure their release.

According to reports, Sumaira, who used to live with her parents in Qatar, married an Indian Muslim, Muhammad Shahab, who managed to take her to India without a visa. In 2017, she was arrested by the Indian police on the charges of entering the country illegally.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2022