External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Thursday did yet another faux pas in Rajya Sabha when he virtually got confused about a Pakistani doctor lodged in Indian jail, saying the Government of Pakistan must consider his release on humanitarian grounds.
Krishna’s strange answer in the Upper House not only made members to burst into laughter, but also forced intervention by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s who clarified the matters.
During the question hour, Shivanand Tiwari (Janata Dal-United) wanted to know what the government was doing for the release of the wheelchair-bound Dr Mohammad Khalil Chisti, who is in jail in Ajmer, Rajasthan. Chisti, a virologist, was sentenced to life imprisonment in December in a 1992 murder case while he was on a visit to India to see his ailing mother.
Krishna said this “particular person” was detained in Pakistan and it was a question to be considered by the government of that country on “humanitarian grounds.” Even as the members were surprised with the answer, Krishna continued his reply saying that Dr Chisti was confined to a wheelchair and was more than 80 years old, and he was sure that the Government of Pakistan would take a lenient view about the case.
“We will, certainly pursue this at the level of the High Commissioner,” he added. Surprised Opposition members asked Krishna whom he was referring to, while CPI (M)’s Brinda Karat said the minister had misunderstood the question and that he was talking about somebody else.
As the members in the Opposition started laughing which led to noisy interruptions in the House, the Prime Minister came to the minister’s rescue and said Dr Chisti was serving a prison sentence in Rajasthan.
The prime minister said after he received a request for Dr Chisti’s release he had contacted the Home Minister who has been in correspondence with the Rajasthan Government.
“Further results are yet to be received,” he said. When noisy interruptions continued, Chairman Hamid Ansari tried to bring order in the House stating “nothing should go on record.”
Octogenarian Dr Chisti's case hit the headlines recently when Supreme Court judge Markandeya Katju had made a personal appeal to the PM seeking his release on humanitarian grounds saying that he was a heart patient with a hip fracture.
Last week, Krishna had served a legal notice on Press Trust of India (PTI) for reporting that “he appeared to be absent minded” when was called to make a statement by the Lok Sabha Speaker.
The PTI had reported that when Speaker Meira Kumar called Krishna to make statement on the situation in Sri Lanka, he was not in his seat and was engaged in conversation with some members in the aisle.
Earlier, Krishna was caught in a public gaffe when he started reading the speech of his Portuguese counterpart by mistake at the UN Security Council in February this year.