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To: President of India - Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

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Dear President Kalam,

 

I am writing to you regarding an urgent matter in which there are only a few days remaining during which action can be taken.

 

Recently I received an e-mail message from Ms. Sue Day, Chairperson of The Horseboating Society www.horseboating.org.uk , regarding the plight of Mr. Daniel Robinson, a British equestrian explorer who has been imprisoned in India.  (Mr. Robinson’s case number is Case #867-06, which is filed under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act.)

 

His appeal trial will be held in late March, 2007.  He was taken into custody after making an historic journey over the legendary Tea Horse Trail which stretches from China, across the Himalayas, through Tibet, and down into India.   The Long Riders Guild, an international association of equestrian explorers, has chronicled his travels on that ancient trade route on this web page: www.thelongridersguild.com/word05.htm

 

Having nearly perished with his two horses during a 3,000 kilometre journey through the Himalayas, Daniel Robinson has been imprisoned in India because he entered the country without a visa.  Denied a lawyer, and about to face an extended imprisonment despite wide-spread calls for his release by the Indian press, the family of the ill-fated traveler has appealed to horsemen around the world to respectfully urge the Indian court to show mercy.

 

While Mr. Robinson did transgress Indian law by entering the country without a visa, he was forced to do so by the severe Winter cold, lack of food, and altitude sickness, all of which were slowly but surely killing him and his two horses.  I think a fitting punishment for Mr. Robinson would be for the Indian court to set him and his horses free—after first requiring him to share his photographs and observations of the Tea Horse Trail with Indian scholars of your nation's history of international trade in ancient times.

 

As a horseman myself, I would be most grateful to you for anything you could do to help secure Daniel Robinson's release.

 

Sincerely Yours,

James Jason Wentworth

Fairbanks, Alaska