On August 14, 2013, Shivam Vij wrote in Kafila  about Hamid Ansari, a young Management Studies graduate from Mumbai who crossed the border illegally to Pakistan in November 2012, to meet a young woman, and has been missing since. At the time Shivam wrote the post, there were indications that Hamid had been picked up by Pakistani security agencies.

Beena Sarwar, Pakistani human rights activist, wrote in July this year about the possibility of ‘cautious optimism’, following the directive of Peshawar High Court to Pakistan’s defence and interior ministries to provide full information about the forced disappearance of Hamid Ansari and of 25 others, who are Pakistani nationals. Her account is worth reading in full, outlining as it does, the ways in which cross border solidarities of democratic forces consistently work to soar above and also to undermine the barbed wire fences of nation-states.

DEBANGANA CHATTERJEE, a Delhi-based MA student, met Hamid’s mother a few days ago, and wrote this piece after talking to her, outlining some new developments in the case. We have retained Fauzia Ansari’s voice as far as possible in this narrative.

The story of Hamid Ansari, a 28 year old IT engineer and management studies graduate, started unfolding when I came across his mother, Fauzia Ansari at a conference on ‘Challenges to Indian Democracy’ organized in Delhi by the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace a few days ago, on August 30-31. Fauzia Ansari is a lecturer of Hindi at a college in Mumbai. Like other mothers, Fauzia says she too had vibrant dreams of her son’s bright future. But a nightmare has unfolded instead.

According to his mother Hamid is an extremely disciplined and dynamic personality and was the Rotaract President (Mumbai) in 2012. His zeal for establishing new educational centres in Afghanistan/Pakistan through his Rotaract contacts and an association with the UN as a volunteer has created a network of his friends on social media from different parts of the world.

Hamid told his parents he was looking for a suitable job in the aviation sector, and flew to Kabul to face an interview board on November 4, 2012, on a tourist visa. November 15, 2012 was the expected date of his return and he was in touch with his family over phone till November 10, after which he became inaccessible. The bewildered family members tried to trace him in both Kabul and New Delhi airport along with informing the Consular office of Afghanistan in Mumbai, but in vain. They decided to search through his mail and Facebook accounts, as fortunately Hamid used to share his passwords with his mother and elder brother.

They were left further perplexed when they realized that he crossed the Pakistani border without acquiring a legitimate Pakistani Visa. It seemed he had been in continuous conversation with several people in Pakistan regarding a a tribal girl, Nadia Khan. Although Fauzia Ansari was unable to define the relationship of Nadia with her son, it looks like he felt emotionally drawn to her, and tried to reach her, neglecting all imminent risks.

These events were at times highlighted through the media too [1]. In the meantime Fauzia came in touch with British lawyer Jas Uppal through a UK based Human Rights Organisation [2], who gave her the contact details of Zeenat Shahzadi, a young Pakistani journalist. Fauzia can barely control her emotions when she speaks about Zeenat. It was like Zeenat could feel a mother’s cry from distant borders, she says. Through what seems to Fauzia like a magical coincidence, Zeenat rang her up while she went for Mecca-Medina pilgrimage this year to give her news about her son.

Zeenat had worked very hard to trace Hamid Ansari, and it now is clear that on November 14, 2012 after he met one of his social media friends in Pakistan, he was sent to Palwasha Hotel in Kohat and given a new SIM number. As soon as he informed a (probably Indian) friend about it, the KDA Police Station  (in Kohat) SHO Faizullah Khan raided the hotel and arrested him from room number 3 at around 5.30 in the evening. A mother in utter despair, Fauzia admits her son’s naivety over the whole issue.

Advocate Adnan Rohela then filed a petition in Pakistan to find Hamid.

Meanwhile in India, Fauzia has contacted every possible institution and official to try and get the Indian government to take some action on getting Hamid freed – different police authorities, different ministries, local MP, MLA, NHRC, Chief Justice. She wrote letters to the then PM Manmohan Singh several times and wrote to the current PM also. She met Salman Khurshid and Sushma Swaraj too.

Fauzia said she was grateful that Sushma Swaraj gave her an appointment the very day that she applied for one. Fauzia has even written to to the United Nations. Rajya Sabha MP, lawyer Majid Menon facilitated some letters through providing his letter heads. Pakistani High Commission in India however, has not taken much interest in Hamid’s case. The Supreme Court of India turned down her petition pointing out that this case falls beyond its jurisdiction.

The question still haunts her, When will I be able to see my child again?

On the basis of an application filed by Zeenat Shahzadi on March 27, 2014 to the Honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan a Joint Investigation Committee was set up and a meeting was held on May 19. Since Fauzia was denied a visa to go there, she authorised Zeenat to attend the meeting on her behalf. She also sent a handwritten appeal in Urdu to former senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Javid Iqbal, son of the legendary Allama Muhammad Iqbal, who did what he could to expedite matters at his end, however, despite the evidence of Hamid Ansari’s arrest and presence in Pakistan, no trace of him could be found as yet.

The next hearing is scheduled for September 8.

It is not surprising that Hamid’s family is suspicious about the network of people in Pakistan who helped Hamid cross the border illegally, especially as Kohat is said to be a hub of intelligence activities.

Borders are constructed to solidify the very idea of a nation-state. But when comes to human feelings, they seek ways to transcend these. A mother’s choked voice admitted her son’s ‘mistake’, although the question remain – does he have to pay this high cost for his youthful emotional impetuosity? Is not it possible for the states to consider a mother’s agony, a father’s pain in a more humane way?

The indifferent attitude of the Indian state towards the agonized parents illustrates bureaucratic red-tapeism, although Fauzia still faithfully believes that India will bring back her son to her lap. In her words,

I have full faith in our Indian system; Government and Judiciary, just that I expect them to be more enterprising to bring Hamid back to his soil.

At the same time, the responses of Pakistanis like Zeenat Shahzadi,  Justice Javid Iqbal and the spontaneity of Human Rights activist Jas Uppal has encouraged Fauzia.

When during the CNDP conference serious discussions were taking place over ‘Enforced Disappearances,’ Fauzia’s genuine tears touched everyone’s heart. Every year thousands of such cases happen – we hope it’s going to be an exception in Fauzia’s case.

NOTES

[1] Mumbai engineer Hamid Ansari missing in Pakistan since November

Petition at Change.Org

[2] Jas Uppal had launched the international campaign in 2009 to free Sarabjit Singh who spent more than two decades in Pakistani jails, convicted for terrorism and spying, and sentenced to death. Sarabjit and his family claimed he was a farmer who had drunkenly strayed across the border. Awais Sheikh, Singh’s Pakistani lawyer, supported the campaign and provided his services free of charge. While in prison in April 2013, he was attacked by fellow inmates and died six days later