Son lodged in Peshawar jail, parents appeal to Sartaj Aziz

Holding a placard in her hands Fauzia Ansari tried hard to hold back her tears. The placard carried a message for Sartaj Aziz, the Advisor on Foreign Affairs to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Fauzia and her husband Nehal Ansari traveled from Mumbai to the religious city of Amritsar on Saturday.

They had an appeal for the release of their son Hamid Ansari, lodged in a jail in Peshawar since 2012, despite having served his sentence of three years.

PARENTS SAY

Facilitated by Ramesh Yadav, a peace activist with the Hind-Pak Manch, the Ansaris hope that they will get to meet Sartaj Aziz during his brief visit to Amritsar for the Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan.

Also read: Woman travels to Amritsar to plead Sartaj Aziz to help release her imprisoned son

Asked about the possibility of such a meeting at a time when India-Pakistan relations are at a sever low, Ramesh Yadav says, "We have been advocating peace between the two countries for the last 21 years. And given the humanitarian nature of the case, this is not impossible."

WHAT HAPPENED WITH HAMID

31-year-old Hamid Ansari, a young software engineer from Mumbai, had crossed over into Pakistan without legal documents in 2011. His family says he crossed over for the love of his life whom he had met through Facebook.

And it was only in January this year that the parents learnt of Hamid's whereabouts. The family has traveled to Delhi in the past and met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who assured of all possible help. But their efforts to meet the Pakistani envoy to seek a visa to travel to Pakistan has yielded no results.