Thaindian News

By T.G. Biju
New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) Some 40 Indian prisoners languishing in Sri Lanka’s prisons are seeking humane treatment, alleging that Indian officials appear deaf to their pleadings and complaints.

A spokesman for the prisoners said some had spent 16 years in jail, but Indian authorities were making no efforts to get them released, in contrast to the concern periodically shown to Indian prisoners in Pakistan.

One of the prisoners who contacted IANS using a borrowed mobile telephone said that most of the Indians in three jails were suffering from all kinds of mental and physical ailments.

“Life sentence in Sri Lanka means spending the whole life in jail. We are all suffering from various mental and physical problems. No one is bothered, Sir,” the prisoner said.

According to a statement laid on the table of the Lok Sabha July 8 by External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, a total of 6,540 Indians are jailed in 59 countries on a variety of charges.

The statement said Sri Lanka had 33 male and four female Indian prisoners. But the Indian who spoke to IANS put the figure at 43 — 28 at the Wellikade jail, 10 in Ngombo and five in Anuradhapura.

The charges against the Indians are mostly of drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

“During trial, we admitted guilty because we did not have financial help to appoint lawyers. We are all from very poor families,” said the Indian prisoner, adding that the convicts were mostly from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, two coastal states closest to northern Sri Lanka. None of them had any links with the now vanquished Tamil Tigers.

“The medical treatment is very poor,” said the prisoner, adding that he was speaking for all the Indians in Sri Lankan jails. “Five Indians died in jail due to lack of proper medical treatment.”

According to this prisoner, one of the Indians who died recently was Mustafa, aged 76. “He had to spend three years in jail after his release order. Eventually he died in judicial custody.”

The prisoner said that in contrast, the Pakistan government used its clout in Sri Lanka to gets its prisoners released under a bilateral pact.

He said Gopalkrishna Gandhi was the only Indian high commissioner in Sri Lanka who got six Indian prisoners freed - all female.

Indian diplomats in Colombo could not be reached for comments for this story.

The prisoner said he and his colleagues had petitioned, separately and collectively, many Indian politicians including present Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Minister of State for Railways E. Ahamed.

“We have spoken to these ministers through various channels just as we have managed to contact you,” he said, when asked how they had contacted Indian leaders.

He claimed that the prisoners got replies to their petitions from the Indian president, the external affairs minister as well as the high commissioner in Colombo, promising suitable action.

“But there is no progress in our case, and nothing positive happens for us,” he said. “The least we want is consular and legal access, better treatment and if possible early release. Even if we have to spend the rest of our lives in jail, we will prefer to do so in India.”

He added: “We see from newspapers that the government of India is extremely concerned when it comes to the issue of Indians in Pakistani jails. We are ignored. Is it because we are not north Indians?”

(T.G. Biju can be contacted at biju.t@ians.in)