ID :
178614
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 13:58
Auther :

Burney claims he had traced an Indian prisoner of war

Islamabad, Apr 28 (PTI) Leading rights activist Ansar
Burney Thursday claimed that he had traced an Indian prisoner
of war captured during the 1971 war in a jail in Pakistan.
Burney said the Indian prisoner named Surjit Singh was
arrested in 1971 and his family had been searching for him
since then.
Singh had completed his jail term in December last
year, he said.
"Earlier, Surjit Singh was sentenced to death but his
sentence was later converted into life imprisonment," said
Burney, a former federal minister for human rights.
Burney said he had sent petitions to President Asif
Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to release
and repatriate Singh to India on humanitarian grounds.
Indian organisations have said that 54 Indian
prisoners of war captured during the 1971 conflict are
believed to be in Pakistani prisons.
Pakistani authorities claim they have been unable to
trace any of these prisoners.

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