Chisty's nightmare must end, says Pakistani daily

Islamabad, April 11 (IANS) The "long nightmare" of Mohammad Khalil Chisty should end, said a daily after the 80-year-old Pakistani doctor was granted bail by India's Supreme Court.

An editorial in the News International Wednesday said the aging and ailing Chisty may be "a step closer to freedom". Chishty has been in an Indian jail for over 20 years and is accused of killing a man during a family feud in Ajmer.

"The scientist, a highly respected microbiologist in Pakistan, had gone to visit his sick mother in 1992 - and soon got caught in an incident. He had lived in Karachi since partition, opting to remain in the country where he was a student at the time," said the daily.

His family in Karachi has long been seeking his release, especially in the recent years as his health has worsened.

"We hear that the matter was taken up at the recent meeting in New Delhi between the president of Pakistan and the Indian prime minister," the editorial said.

President Asif Ali Zardari Sunday visited India where he met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and paid obeisance at the shrine of a Sufi saint at Ajmer.

"The grant of bail to Dr Chisty, who has been asked to surrender his passport and remain for now in Ajmer, is of course a move that is to be welcomed," said the daily.

"But what is most important is that Chisty should be permitted to return home to Karachi to be reunited with the family he has not seen since 1992.

"The long nightmare should end. That is what humanity demands, particularly given the time he has already spent in jail," it added.