Officers stand at the front gate of the Foreign Office in Islamabad. — AFP/File
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday protested against the extra-judicial killing of Tabarak Hussain, a Pakistani national imprisoned in the Indian Army Hospital in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir's (IIOJK) Rajouri district, a statement released by the Foreign Office read.
The Foreign Office called on the Indian ambassador in Islamabad to register the protest.
Through the ambassador, Pakistan conveyed its strong condemnation to India over the extra-judicial killing of Tabarak Hussain, a mentally challenged Pakistani national who inadvertently crossed the border at Naushera in Rajouri district on August 21. The Pakistani national was mercilessly shot by the Indian security forces.
The ambassador conveyed Pakistan’s outright rejection of the claim that Hussain died of ‘cardiac arrest’ as purported by the Indian authorities. On the contrary, the authorities are spinning a mischievous narrative that Hussain had been sent by the Pakistan Army.
FO stated that the Indian claims held no water, as Hussain — being of unsound mental health — had inadvertently crossed the border in 2016 as well and had been repatriated to Pakistan after serving a 26-month long prison term.
The ministry added that the incident had further heightened Pakistan’s serious concerns over the safety, security, and well-being of other Pakistanis held in India's custody.
FO also reminded the ambassador of another recent brutal extra-judicial killing of a Pakistani prisoner Muhammed Ali Hussain by the Indian authorities.
The government has called on India to share details of Hussain's killing including a credible post-mortem report to determine the cause of death.
Pakistan has also demanded a transparent investigation to punish the culprits behind Hussain's murder.
"Prompt and expeditious repatriation of the mortal remains of the deceased to Pakistan, as per the wishes of his family was also demanded," the ministry's statement read.
