The family of Dinesh Vishwakarma,who is lodged in Pakistan jail despite his jail term ending seven months ago,would stage a day-long dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on October 27. Dineshs wife Rukhmani Devi,their three children,the youngest of whom is three years old,his mother Kaushlaya Devi and brothers Rajneesh and Manish,would stage protest against the government for not making serious efforts into bringing Dinesh back home. According to the family,Dineshs one-year jail term ended on March 9 but he continues to languish,illegally,at the District Jail Malir in Karachi. The family from Ghazipur district procured this information through RTI Act,application for which was filed by Advocate Avanish Chaubey. We have been writing letters to top Indian authorities requesting for their intervention,but no one seems to take the matter seriously. By staging the dharna,we want to bring to their notice the injustice that is being done to our family, Rukhmani said. Last week,the family sent another letter to the President,the Prime Minister,the External Affair Ministry and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,Dineshs brother Rajneesh said. Previously,at least we used to get a reply. Now the officials have even stopped responding to our letters, he said,adding that last month he also met Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and Congress MP Raj Babbar at a function in the capital city. I handed them applications with our request and they had promised to take up the matter. But no one has contacted us in this regard so far, Rajneesh said. Besides the members from the family,All India Vishwakarma Samaj would also participate in the dharna. Members would be coming to Delhi from different parts of the country to join the protest. A native of Ghazipurs Bahariyabad village,Dinesh was working in a private firm in Rajasthans Alwar district since 2008 and lived alone. In 2011,he went missing and remained untraceable ever since. In May this year,an official in the local intelligence unit visited the family and informed them of Dineshs arrest. The family met district officials and political leaders including Samajwadi party MP from their district,Radhey Mohan,to get more information,but to no avail,Rajneesh said,shortly after which the advocate filed an RTI application with the External Affairs Ministry on the familys behalf. The family was then notified that Dinesh was arrested on March 9,2012 by Pakistani authorities,and,following his conviction under the Foreigners Act,was sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment. The court there had also imposed a fine of Rs 500 or 15 days imprisonment if he failed to pay the fine. The reply also stated that his nationality had been confirmed. MANISH SAHU
