LS MPs to govt: Bring back Indians languishing in foreign jails

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha members on Tuesday slammed Sri Lanka and Pakistan for taking fishermen and civilians as prisoners for straying into their territory, urging the Centre to repatriate Indians languishing in foreign jails.

Members from Tamil Nadu, J&K and Gujarat said Indians were living in foreign jails in inhuman conditions for years, but government had not taken any step to bring them back. Sarabjeet's issue found a prominent mention.

BJP's Arjun Ram Meghwal said there was no news for three months about a group of labourers from Rajasthan, who were put behind bars for traffic violation.

RJD's Raghuvansh Prasad Singh criticised the government for contradicatory claims. He cited that 474 Indians were in Pakistani jails, including 74 armymen and 54 prisoners of war.

The strong pitch for the prisoners in other countries surprised the House managers because the legislation in question was about a minor amendment to the Prisoners Repatriation Act -- changing "martial" with "military".

Home minister P Chidambaram assured the agitating MPs that the government had signed agreements for repatriation with 11 countries, and was negotiating similar pacts with five more.

Congress's Lal Singh from J&K said there were credible reports of Indian prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails, but the government had not taken any step to bring them back. Madan Lal Sharma drew attention to the contentious issue of rehabilitation of youth who crossed over to Pakistan to indulge in militancy and criminal activities.

Lal Singh alleged that the government sent civilians to Pakistan for spying with the assurance of taking care of their families, but disowned them once they were caught. He said even if the foreign countries released them, they had to face jail and police harassment back home because of their claim that the government had sent them across the border.

AIADMK's P Kumar slammed Sri Lanka for shooting and capturing Indian fishermen who mistakenly crossed into its waters and urged the government to protect them.

Gujarat MP Naranbhai Kachhadia said Pakistan takes fishermen hostages but releases them without their boats, which cost Rs 4 lakh each. He said the government should be concerned about prisoners in Pakistan and urged it to devise a system, which would enable retrieving the boats as well.

Mangani Lal Mandal of JD(U) said repatriation of prisoners from India was easy, but was very difficult from other countries.