By T.G. Biju,IANS,
New Delhi : India and Sri Lanka Wednesday signed an agreement on exchange of sentenced prisoners, an important step that has raised hopes for at least 40 Indians languishing in Sri Lankan jails.
The agreement was signed on a day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
IANS had first reported July 22, 2009 that some 40 Indian prisoners languishing in Sri Lanka’s prisons were seeking humane treatment, alleging that Indian officials in Sri Lanka appear deaf to their pleas and complaints.
Lok Sabha MP from Kerala E.T. Mohammed Basheer, who fought for the extradition of Indian prisoners both inside and outside parliament, said he was very happy that such an agreement had been finalised.
“It was based on the IANS report, I raised the matter in the Lok Sabha. I referred to the report when I presented the case before the higher authorities,” Basheer said.
A spokesman for the prisoners had said some had spent 16 years in jail. The convicts are mostly from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
One of the prisoners, using a borrowed mobile telephone, told IANS that most of the Indians in three jails were suffering from all kinds of mental and physical ailments.
Besides Basheer, Thol. Thirumaavalavan, an MP from Tamil Nadu, had also raised the matter with the authorities.
In a letter to Thirumaavalavan last year, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna had said the government was in talks with Sri Lanka to bring back the Indian prisoners.
“We have been in discussions with the Sri Lankan government on the matter and continue to pursue it vigorously keeping in mind the humanitarian aspect,” Krishna had told Thirumaavalavan.
Thirumaavalavan had written to Krishna Oct 16, 2009, highlighting the plight of Indian prisoners in Sri Lankan jails.
The foreign minister, in a written reply to him, informed: “Both sides are working towards finalising an ‘Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons’.”
According to the inmates, the Indian prisoners, who are punished for smuggling and other crimes are mostly kept at Wellikade, Ngombo and Anuradhapura jails.