Free counsel

Former Pakistani Minister for Human Rights in the recent caretaker government, Ansar Burney8217;s claim to fame in India...

Former Pakistani Minister for Human Rights in the recent caretaker government, Ansar Burney8217;s claim to fame in India was securing the release of Indian PoW, Kashmir Singh from a Pakistani prison after 35 years. He is also laboriously working on the release of another8212;Sarabjit Singh8212;and facilitated the meeting between Singh and his family in Lahore earlier this year. But it seems all that could not help him get into India8212; he was denied entry to the country and subsequently deported to Dubai, a move that has left the Indian government red-faced.

Though the 52-year-old lawyer has been working on human rights issues since 1980, his credentials have been viewed with suspicion in some circles in Pakistan. Senior journalist and editor-in-chief of Mashriq, a leading Urdu daily of Pakistan, Mustansar Javed says: 8220;He is believed to hog the limelight for a short period and then go into total oblivion, thereby creating curiosity.8221;

Curiosity is something he has managed to evoke throughout his career. Born Syed Ansar Ahmed Burney, he holds a law degree from Karachi University and an honorary PhD from Sri Lanka. In 1980, he founded three NGOs: Ansar Burney Welfare Trust, Prisoners Aid Society and Bureau of Missing and Kidnapped Persons in Karachi.

Never one to be away from controversy, as a student in 1977, Burney was arrested for delivering speeches against the Zia-imposed Martial Law and jailed for eight months. He was released but rearrested for another two more months, followed by another month in prison in 1979. It was these periods of detention that got Burney acquainted with prisoners. His one-on-one contact with them in jail left him with an abiding interest to work for their rights.

Burney is also known to have worked for women8217;s and child rights since as early as 1965. In this field, he worked with Tariq Azim, the then minister for Overseas Pakistanis and lately, minister for information under prime minister Shaukat Aziz. 8220;As the minister, I requested UAE interior minister Saif Al Sha8217;far for the release of child camel jockeys. Burney also worked in this regard. Our request bore fruit and UAE passed a law in parliament stating that children under the age of 16 and five kg of weight couldn8217;t be employed as camel jockeys,8221; says Azim. Consequently, 600 children from Pakistan and India, among other countries, were repatriated that year.

Burney has also worked for putting a stop to human trafficking especially that of girls. His Trust takes the credit for the closure of some 8216;mandis8217; where women were bought and sold in Pakistan. 8220;Yes, he has campaigned for women forced into flesh trade, especially in the dance bars of Mumbai, Karachi and Lahore,8221; Azim adds.

While on a trip to interior Sindh, Burney stumbled upon Hindu slaves called 8216;haris8217; serving Sindhis. His Trust was instrumental in freeing many of them.

Story continues below this ad

While Sarabjit8217;s fate was hanging in balance in April, Burney was pushing a mercy petition to President Pervez Musharraf. The current Gillani-government was just born then. Lahore witnessed a procession against Burney by a banned militant outfit, denouncing his efforts in securing the release of Kashmir Singh who had confessed to being an Indian spy and now Sarabjit. While speaking to The Indian Express then from Lahore, Burney in his usual self-congratulatory style said, 8220;Everyone can8217;t be Ansar Burney. And it8217;s not easy to be Ansar Burney. I will work for people like Sarabjit till my last breath.8221;

He may blow his own bugle but his claims are not hollow. Credit is due to Burney8217;s Trust for collecting data on Pakistani and Indian prisoners confined in each other8217;s jails and also around the world. Burney is known to seek as well as give humanitarian aid for Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Kosovo. In 1984, he was offered the position of a minister by Zia ul Haq, which he refused in defiance of the dictator8217;s policies. He has received over 200 awards from home as well as from abroad. And in 2002, he was conferred Pakistan8217;s third highest civilian honour Sitar-i-Imtiaz, the first in the field of human rights.