A significant diplomatic development has emerged between the United Kingdom and Pakistan, with reports indicating Islamabad has proposed a controversial prisoner exchange arrangement. According to Pakistani media sources, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi presented this proposition during a private meeting with British High Commissioner Jane Marriott in Islamabad last Thursday.
The proposed arrangement would see Pakistan accept the return of two convicted grooming gang leaders—Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf—in exchange for Britain’s extradition of Pakistani political dissidents Shahzad Akbar and Adil Raja. Both Akbar, a former minister in Imran Khan’s administration, and Raja, an ex-army major, currently reside in the UK where they have been vocal critics of the Pakistani government’s human rights record and alleged suppression of political dissent.
This proposal comes amid complex legal circumstances surrounding the grooming case convicts. Khan and Rauf, both Pakistani immigrants who were convicted in 2012 for sexually exploiting 47 girls in Rochdale, had their British citizenship revoked following their convictions. However, just days before their scheduled deportation to Pakistan, they renounced their Pakistani citizenship, creating a legal limbo that Pakistan has until now refused to resolve.
The potential exchange emerges as Britain’s Labour government faces increasing pressure to address child sexual exploitation more effectively. Previous attempts to establish a comprehensive nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs have encountered repeated delays and debates regarding the scope of investigation, including whether to examine ethnic, religious, and cultural factors involved in these cases.
Political analysts suggest the UK is highly unlikely to agree to such an arrangement, with both the Home Office and Foreign Office declining to comment on the reports. Adil Raja, now working as a freelance journalist, described the proposal as ‘unprecedented and deeply disturbing,’ expressing confidence that British authorities would not ‘allow political critics to be traded away under pressure from a foreign government.’
This development occurs against the backdrop of ongoing political tensions in Pakistan, where former Prime Minister Imran Khan remains imprisoned under circumstances that a UN report recently deemed arbitrary and in violation of international law.