Click to play videoNew Delhi: India has said sorry to Ansar Burney, the former Pakistan human rights minister, for not allowing him entry to the country.
Burney, who had come to Delhi on Friday night to attend a peace conference, was sent back from the Indira Gandhi International Airport soon after his arrival.
The Union Home Ministry statement said, "Burney was denied entry and not deported on account of inadequate documentation. It may be mentioned that no such difficulty had arisen when Mr. Burney visited India in April 2008 when requisite information about his visit was available in advance. The inconvenience to Mr. Burney is unfortunate and regrettable."
Apologies have been conveyed to Burney, who is now in London, and a Home Ministry inquiry is underway but the man who was instrumental in securing the release of Kashmir Singh, an Indian prisoner languishing in a Pakistani jail for 35 years, is not convinced.
"It was so surprising for me. It was so painful. I cannot imagine such type of behaviour with me in India," Burney said about being denied entry into India.
Earlier, Home Ministry sources told CNN-IBN that Burney was sent back on the basis of a 'Lookout Notice' issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad about a year ago. For some reason, the sources said, that notice was never revoked.
But if that was the case why was Burney not sent back when he came to India two months ago.
The External Affairs Ministry has asked for details from the Home Ministry amidst speculation that the two ministries were not in sync.
Burney, meanwhile, has other worries.
"It might be because of some jealously among government people. They do not like me to be India as people of India like me. They must be waiting in Pakistan as well as India that if people die in jails then they will do politics over the dead bodies. But I will not allow them," he said.
Although bruised and humiliated, Burney is unlikely to give up on what he sees as his life's mission - giving succour to dozens of Indians serving time in Pakistani jails.
(With inputs from Akanksha Banerji, Surya Gangadharan and Sumon K Chakrabarti)
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