Editorial : Long road home: Hamid Nihal Ansari’s return

India and Pakistan should adopt a more humane approach to each other’s prisoners
The return to India of Hamid Nihal Ansari, an engineer from Mumbai who spent six years in a Pakistani prison(जेल), is cause

(वजह)for cheer(उत्साहित/प्रोत्साहन) on the otherwise bleak landscape of India-Pakistan relations. The plight(दुर्दशा/स्थिति) of the young man, who had crossed over into Pakistan from Afghanistan in 2012 on a mission to save a woman he had befriended(दोस्ती) online and been arrested for espionage(जासूसी), had caught public attention(ध्यान) in both countries. Subsequent(आगामी) investigations proved his innocence(बेगुनाही) on all charges other than entering(दाखिल करना) Pakistanillegally(अवैध रूप ), but even so, the authorities there put him through a trial in a military court. In December 2015, the courtsentenced(सजा सुनाई/दंडित) him to three years in prison. All through his ordeal(परख/अग्नि परीक्षा), Mr. Ansari’s parents kept alive the struggle(संघर्ष ) to bring him back, without letting the emotional and financial costs deter them. To its credit, the Ministry of External Affairs applied sustained(निरंतर) diplomatic pressure on Islamabad, first to demand information on Mr. Ansari’s whereabouts(ठिकाने) and then for a fair trial and consular access, which was never granted. The Government of Pakistan must also be commended(प्रशस्त) for expediting(जल्दी करना ) Mr. Ansari’s release after he completed his sentence on December 15, although it had received another month from a Peshawar court to finish the formalities(औपचारिकताओं).Above all, credit goes to citizens’ groups in both countries that helped the family, particularly lawyers and human rights activists in Pakistan who worked pro bono to ensure Mr. Ansari’s release.

Given the downturn in bilateral(द्विपक्षीय ) relations, further complicated(उलझा हुआ/पेचीदा) by the international case India is pursuing(पीछा करना) against Pakistan over the conviction(दोषसिद्धि/धारणा) of Kulbhushan Jadhav, and instances(उदाहरण) of prisoners(कैदियों ) like Sarabjit Singh dying in Pakistani jails, it is nothing short of a miracle that Mr. Ansari has returned home safe and sound. New Delhi would do well to acknowledge the Imran Khan government’s gesture(हाव-भाव/संकेत) in releasing him. Both India and Pakistan must dedicate(समर्पित करना) themselves to freeing hundreds of other prisoners who remain in each other’s jails, many of whom have completed their sentences but await long processes( प्रक्रियाओं) of identification(पहचान ) and repatriation(स्वदेश वापसी). According to government figures, Pakistan holds 471 Indian prisoners while India holds 357 Pakistani prisoners, a large number of them fishermen who inadvertently(अनजाने ) trespassed(विश्वासघात किया) into each other’s waters. The two countries must also revive the biannual(द्विभाषी ) meetings of the Joint Judicial Committee on Prisoners as agreed to a decade ago; the committee has not met since 2013. Its last recommendations( सिफारिशें,), that women and children as well as prisoners with mental health issues be sent back to their countries on humanitarian(मानवीय grounds(आधार), are yet to be implemented(कार्यान्वित किया।). There is little to be gained by holding these prisoners hostage to bitter bilateral ties and prolonging(बढ़ाना/टालना) the misery of their impoverished(गरीब) families. There needs to be a more humane approach(दृष्टिकोण।).

Important Vocabulary

1. Plight(दुर्दशा/स्थिति)
Synonyms: condition, predicament, quandary, trouble, circumstances
Antonyms: advantage, solution, benefit, boon, good fortune

2. Cheer(उत्साहित/प्रोत्साहन)
Synonyms: delight, encouragement, glee, joy, optimism
Antonyms: discouragement. sadness, sorrow, unhappiness, depression

3. Innocence(बेगुनाही)
Synonyms: chastity, guiltlessness, immaculateness, impeccability, incorruptibility
Antonyms: badness, blame, corruption, evil, experience

4. Sentenced(सजा सुनाई/दंडित) 
Synonyms: blame, condemn, confine, convict, imprison
Antonyms: exonerate, free, let go, liberate, pardon

5. Espionage(जासूसी),
Synonyms: intelligence, reconnaissance, shadowing, tailing, secret service

6. Expediting(जल्दी करना )
Synonyms: accelerate, assist, facilitate, hasten, promote
Antonyms: delay, hinder, hurt, retard, slow

7. Struggle(संघर्ष )
Synonyms: attempt, battle, clash, combat, conflict
Antonyms: accord, agreement, calm, idleness, laziness

8. bilateral(द्विपक्षीय )
Synonyms: mutual, reciprocal, respective, two-sided

9. gesture(हाव-भाव/संकेत) 
Synonyms: action, body language, expression, indication, nod
Antonyms: speech

10. Processes( प्रक्रियाओं) 
Synonyms: action, case, course, development, growth
Antonyms: cessation, decline, decrease, idleness, ignorance

11. Inadvertently(अनजाने 
Synonyms: negligently, recklessly, heedlessly, rashly

12. Trespassed(विश्वासघात किया
Synonyms: infraction, misdemeanor, breach, contravention, crime
Antonyms: behavior, benefit, blessing, good, good deed

13. Prolonging(बढ़ाना/टालना)
Synonyms: continue, delay, drag out, lengthen, perpetuate
Antonyms: abbreviate, advance, cease, expedite, further

14. Impoverished(गरीब)
Synonyms: barren, destitute, distressed, indigent, needy
Antonyms: rich, wealthy, enlarged, full, increased

15. Commended(प्रशस्त)
Synonyms: applaud, approve, compliment, endorse, extol
Antonyms: blame, censure, criticize, disapprove, oppose