Pak lawyer's body to provide free legal aid to Indian prisoners

New Delhi: Lawyers Congress, an advocates’ body in Pakistan, has agreed to provide free legal aid to Indian prisoners languishing in Pakistani jails, National Panthers Party supremo Bhim Singh said today. Singh, who returned here after a 10-day visit to Pakistan, said he had taken up the issue of Indian prisoners with Lahore chapter of Lawyers Congress following which it had agreed to provide legal help to them.

“The Lahore chapter of Lawyers Congress has agreed to provide free legal aid to Indian prisoners languishing in jails in that country,” he told reporters. Singh said his proposal to set up a joint free legal aid committee in cooperation with Lawyers Congress (Lahore) and Islamabad and Lahore chapters of the Bar Associations to provide help to the Indian prisoners has also been accepted. He said he has filed several writ petitions in the Supreme Court and as well as other courts challenging “illegal, unconstitutional and improper arrest and detentions” of Pakistani nationals in Indian jails. He claimed that his efforts ensured release of around 300 Pakistani prisoners from Indian jails in the past 15 years. Singh said he was also facilitated by the Bar Association of Islamabad and Lahore during his visit. The Panthers Party leader said he was not allowed to visit Pakistan Occupied Kashmir by the authorities there and called it an “undemocratic decision”. “I hope that governments of both the nations realise that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir can be resolved by the joint efforts of leaders, intellectuals and social activists from both sides of J&K,” he said. Singh said he was going to organise ‘Heart-to-Heart’ talks in October and several Pakistani leaders will be invited.

PTI