NEW DELHI, 1 June 2008 — India has launched an inquiry into Friday night’s deportation of Pakistani human rights activist and former Minister Ansar Burney. An official said Burney, who had arrived here to attend an anti-terrorism meeting, was deported to Dubai as he was on a “lookout notice” with Indian airports that had not been updated.
An embarrassed Indian External Affairs Ministry has sought details of the incident and reasons from the Ministry of Home Affairs. “We don’t know the reasons yet. We are trying to find out which agency of the government provided information for placing Burney on this (lookout) list,” an official source said.
A person on the lookout list is barred entry into the country. Burney’s name on the list is intriguing for it is supposed to include names of undesirable elements, suspected terrorists, people wanted in court cases and for financial fraud.
Burney was here in April. He met Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on April 8 and went to Amritsar to meet Sarabjit Singh’s family.
Burney, an advisory member of the United Nations Peace Council, is working to secure the release of Singh, allegedly a spy, who has been sentenced to death in Pakistan. Burney played a key role in securing the release of Indian prisoner Kashmir Singh who was in Pakistani prisons for 35 years.
Different security agencies gave different likely reasons for Burney’s deportation. It could be a “mistake” at the level of India’s Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), an official said. The “lookout notice” at Indian airports may not have been updated, another official said. But no official could explain who had issued the notice against Burney and in what connection.
The FRRO has submitted its preliminary report to the ministry concerned. It said Burney was deported as his papers were not in order. Some senior government officials even said Burney was not deported, he was simply sent back.
Both the Indian External Affairs Ministry and the Pakistan High Commission have denied they knew Burney was to visit Delhi. Declining comment, the External Affairs Ministry said they were not involved.
“It was a private visit. We don’t know anything about it,” sources in the Pakistan High Commission said.
“When I arrived at Delhi, the officer at the Delhi airport was very happy to meet me. He then asked to me to wait. After a while he took me to the immigration office and half an hour after that I got to know that they have plans to deport me and send me back to Dubai. I tried to tell the officers that I have come to India for important meetings, talks about prisoner exchange. I told them that I have come to India earlier without any objections from the Indian authority,” Burney told a news channel.
Several journalists in Delhi were informed of Burney’s deportation by an e-mail sent by his son. Burney plans to bring the matter to the notice of the United Nations.
Before being send back to Dubai on Friday night, Burney told reporters at the airport: “This is the most heartbreaking moment of my life. I cannot understand how the Indian government could deport a person who is relentlessly working for the good of Indians lodged in Pakistani jails.”
Nevertheless, he said: “I will continue my efforts in securing release of Sarabjit Singh and other innocent persons, including Indians lodged in Pakistani jails.”
