Islamabad on Friday said the killing of a Pakistani prisoner in a jail in India is a threat to the lives of Pakistanis and Kashmiris in India as well as Held Kashmir. “Killing of a Pakistani prisoner in Indian jail in the midst of a frenzy created by Indian government and media is a threat to the life and security of Pakistanis in India as well as to Kashmiris in the occupied valley and all over India,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Faisal tweeted, in reference to Pakistani prisoner Shakirullah’s death in Jaipur jail earlier this week. Indian authorities had informed the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi that Shakirullah sustained injuries following a scuffle between fellow inmates in the television room in the jail, which proved fatal. However, according to some Indian media reports he was lynched. The spokesperson said it is incomprehensible how a scuffle between prisoners in an established government set-up was allowed to escalate to the extent that Shakirullah sustained fatal injuries. “Security and safety of Pakistani inmates/prisoners in Indian jails is the responsibility of the government of India which should have taken enhanced measures to prevent this,” he added. The already sour relations between India and Pakistan have worsened over the past week as New Delhi piled blame on Islamabad for the Pulwama attack. Pakistan’s leadership has strongly refuted the allegations.
Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2019.
