Day after return from Pak, Hamid Nihal Ansari meets Sushma Swaraj
New Delhi, Dec 19 : Hamid Nihal Ansari, the software engineer who has returned home after spending six years in a Pakistani jail, met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday and narrated his ordeal.
Officials said 33-year-old Ansari, who came back to India on Tuesday, became emotional while talking about the difficult phase of his life in Pakistan.
Ansari, who was accompanied by his mother and other family members, also thanked Swaraj and the Ministry of External Affairs for persisting with the case and taking it up with Islamabad.
The Mumbai resident, who returned to India after crossing the Wagah-Attari border, was imprisoned in the Peshawar Central Jail after being sentenced by a military court on December 15, 2015. According to official sources, India issued 96 notes verbales to Pakistan seeking consular access to Ansari. The decision to release him was on account of relentless pressure from New Delhi, they said.
Shortly before his arrival on Tuesday, Ansari's mother Fauzia Ansari told reporters that the prayers of the family and of all those who wished for his safe return had been answered.
"I am immensely happy today. I don't have words to describe my feelings," she said. His father, Nihal Ansari, said, "It is a new dawn for us".
Ansari was arrested in 2012 for illegally entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online. His jail term ended on December 15 but he was not able to leave for India as his legal documents were not ready.
On Thursday, the Peshawar High Court gave the Pakistan government a month's deadline to complete his repatriation process.
In reply to a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother Fauzia Ansari, the high court was informed that he was in custody of the Pakistan Army and was being tried by a military court.
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Gehlot changes profile pic to 'Save Aravalli', asks Centre to reconsider definition
Jaipur (PTI): Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday urged the Centre to reconsider its definition of the Aravallis, warning that any damage to the mountain range posed a serious threat to the ecological future of north India.
Gehlot, a former Rajasthan chief minister, changed his social media profile picture in support of the nationwide 'SaveAravalli' campaign amid growing debate over mining and environmental safeguards in the Aravalli Range.
It was his symbolic protest against the new interpretation under which hills lower than 100 metres are no longer being recognised as part of the Aravalli system, he said.
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"The Aravalli cannot be judged by tape measures or height alone. It must be assessed by its ecological importance," Gehlot said, adding that the revised definition raised "a big question" over the future of north India.
Appealing to the Centre and the Supreme Court, Gehlot said the issue must be reconsidered in the interest of future generations and environmental security. He also urged citizens to participate in the campaign by changing their display pictures online to draw attention to the issue.
He said the Aravalli range functioned as a natural green wall against the expansion of the Thar desert and extreme heatwaves, protecting Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Opening up smaller hills and so-called gap areas for mining would allow desertification to advance rapidly, he warned.
Gehlot also flagged concerns over air pollution, saying the hills and forests of the Aravallis acted as the "lungs" of the National Capital Region by checking dust storms and absorbing pollutants.
"When pollution levels are so alarming even with the Aravalli standing, one can imagine how disastrous the situation will be without it," he said.
Highlighting the water crisis, the former chief minister said the rocky terrain of the Aravallis played a crucial role in groundwater recharge by channelising rainwater underground.
"If the hills are destroyed, drinking water shortages will intensify, wildlife will disappear and the entire ecology will be pushed into danger," he said.
Gehlot argued that, from a scientific perspective, the Aravallis was a continuous chain and that even smaller hillocks were as vital as higher peaks.
