Civil rights activists have appealed to the President and Rajasthan Governor for the release of an ailing octogenarian virologist Pakistani citizen Dr Khalil Chisty. Its a trial that lasted close to 20 years and ended in January with the sentencing of Chisty to life imprisonment. For all the time in between this agonisingly slow trial,Chisty,now frail and lodged in the Ajmer jail hospital,was out on bail,but under stringent conditions. He lived in a modest house in his ancestral hometown,Ajmer,occasionally visited by his family.
Since his conviction and subsequent sentencing in January and an appeal in the Rajasthan High Court,which only upheld the lower courts order,Chistys family and civil rights activists have petitioned the President of India and Rajasthan Governor to grant him a pardon. Activists have stated that following Pakistans release of Gopal Das imprisoned for 27 years,India should respond in a gesture of goodwill.
Chistys brother Jaleel recalls that fateful night on April 14,1992 in Ajmer. Khalil was here to visit his ailing mother,but was caught up in a family feud. There was a confrontation between members of the family,which turned violent and some armed persons tried to attack him and his family, Jaleel said. He added that two of Chistys relatives were injured in the fight that ensued and a third cousin fetched a gun. My cousin and one of the attackers were fighting for the gun when it went off and hit one of the assailants,who died. Khalil went to help the injured when the police arrived, remembered Jaleel.
According to his daughter,Amna,who lives in Pakistan,Chisty was named in a false FIR and charged with murder. He was taken to jail and managed to obtain bail only after a while. But his movements were severely restricted and his passport confiscated. He lived in Ajmer without consular access or independent legal representation, she said,adding that though his family has managed to visit him for short periods whenever possible,the situation worsened in March last year. He suffered a fracture,and then a heart attack.
Now 80 years old,Chisty studied in Karachi and completed his PhD in public health virology from the University of Edinburgh. He later became the head of the Virology department,Karachi University. According to Jaleel,he has worked in Saudi Arabia,UK,Iran,Nigeria and Sri Lanka. He was an accomplished academic and it is heartbreaking to see such a man in jail for so long. He has a son and five daughters, Jaleel said. He added that during his incarceration,Chisty has missed two of his daughters weddings and the birth of nine grandchildren.
Kavita Srivastava,the general secretary of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties,said,He is 80,very frail and had to be carried to the court for appearances. We have written to the government to grant him a pardon so that he can go home.