After 35 yrs, Indian on death row in Pak jail traced

Pakistan's caretaker Human Rights minister Ansar Burney found Kashmir Singh - who was arrested on espionage charges in 1973 and sentenced to death by an army court - during a visit to Lahore's Central Jail.

Burney has met President Pervez Musharraf to seek the early release of Singh, who has become a mental wreck after long years of solitary confinement. Due to Burney's intervention, Singh was taken to hospital for treatment.

Following an appeal by Burney for information about Singh's family in India, BJP MP in the Lok Sabha, Avinash Rai Khanna traced the prisoner's kin in his constituency of Hoshiarpur in Punjab.

"I found Singh's family in Nangalchouran village in Garshankar sub-district. I contacted Singh's two sons and his wife and sent his details and a photograph to Mr Burney," Khanna said.

"I have requested the Pakistani minister to help in the release of Singh. I also intend to take up the matter of Singh's release in Parliament as it is currently in session," Khanna said.

Burney visited Singh in Lahore's Central Jail on Wednesday to inform Singh about the progress made in tracing his family.

"Kashmir Singh, with tears of happiness in his eyes, thanked Minister Burney and made two requests - that Burney should accompany Singh when he returns (to India) as he fears that he may not recognise his own family, and for a suit so that he can look smart and presentable when he meets his wife and children after 35 years," said Syed Fahad Burney, a kin of the minister and acting chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust.

According to Singh, he worked for the police in Amritsar. He allegedly became involved in smuggling materials from Pakistan to India after he lost his job. While on a trip to Peshawar, Singh and an accomplice were arrested in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in 1973.

The other man was sentenced to prison for 10 years and repatriated to India many years ago, Singh said. Singh, on the other hand, was sentenced to death by a court martial and spent 35 years on death row.

Singh, the eldest of three brothers and a sister, said he had married his childhood love at the age of 16. He had been married for 10 years and the couple had two sons and a daughter when he was arrested in Pakistan.

The only communication with his family was a letter Singh had received while in prison many years ago. Singh did not have a single visitor while he was held in prisons at Sahiwal, Multan, Mianwali and Lahore in Pakistan's Punjab province.

Singh was located by Burney when he began visiting prisons across Pakistan after becoming the caretaker human rights minister as part of his work on jail reforms. When Burney found him, Singh's records had ‘disappeared’ and he was known by the name of Ibrahim.