Author: Jatinder Kaur Tur
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 19, 2003
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/archive_full_story.php?content_id=24172
Introduction: They claim that many
Indians behind bars there have all but lost sanity
Peace may not dawn every time the
New Delhi-Islamabad hotline crackles, but each overture does bring in its
own dividends. Twenty Indians who were languishing in Pakistan jails for
the past two-three years took their steps to freedom here today after they
were released by Pakistan Rangers.
It was an emotional scene here at
this side of the Wagah International Border gate as families reunited with
the 14 crewmen of a wrecked Gujarati vessel Rajlaxmi and six Punjabi youth
who had migrated to Lebanon in search of greener pastures but had to end
up in Greece, Iran, and finally, in a Pakistani jail.
And if what they had to say is anything
to go by, there are many Indians still languishing in various prisons in
Pakistan, who have lost their mental balance either due to years of physical
and mental torture or separation from their kin.
Back home, the 20 will reportedly
be kept in custody for the next 24 hours where the intelligence agencies
will question them.
Salim Mohammad, who hails from Beyt
Timba Pada, Jamnagar, was one of the 14 crewmen of Rajlaxmi that caught
fire on its way from Dubai to Mundara port, told The Indian Express that
there are at least 15-20 prisoners in Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore, and at
about 10 in Quetta Jail, Balochistan, who have lost their mental balance.
Years of confinement in solitary cells and severe torture along with pressure
from inmates to adopt Islam did the damage, he said. As for himself, Mohammad
developed cataract during his years of imprisonment.
Mohmmad said their vessel had caught
fire, and while one of their accomplices died in the mishap, 14 of them
managed to get into life boats. ''For five days and five nights, we kept
on sailing, starved and thirsty and finally we saw land. We landed only
to realise that it was Bal village in Pakistan, and were promptly arrested.
Hira Lal Lodhari added that they
had almost lost hope of being released. Razak Mohammad, father of another
of those released,
Avesh, said that the owner of the
vessel, Suresh Bhai Shinde, was accompanying them to Punjab to take these
seamen back to Gujarat.
Surinder Singh of Yamuna Nagar,
who burst into tears after embracing his mother, Mohinder Kaur, was one
of the most vocal prisoners. He disclosed how the Pakistani intelligence
agencies tried to brainwash and convince them to work as spies and informers.
Later , with his 4-year-old daughter in his lap, he claimed that Indian
prisoners were waiting to die in Pakistani jails.
Kiran Vijay Gohal, a Gujarati, was
wearing a turban and looked like a Sikh. His father, Vijay Gohal, happy
over his son's return, said: ''Since his childhood, he fancied dressing
up as a Sardar and keeping a Judaa. But he got the opportunity only in
Pak jails and now I will let him do as he wants''.
For prisoners like Amarjit Singh,
it is a nightmare which is over but would haunt them for the coming years.
''We used to get raw ration and had to work, like making garlands, for
earning a soap cake or hair oil,'' said Surinder. The six youth released
today - Amarjit Singh, Karam Singh, Gunam Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Surinder
Singh and Surjit Lal - had all gone to Lebanon on a contract basis. From
there they went to Greece, paying Rs 3.5 lakh each to agents. All six were
caught while trying to cross the Turkish border. ''The border guards snatched
our passports and valuables and assaulted us before leaving us at the Iran
border, where once again we were caught and imprisoned before finally being
deported to Pakistan,'' revealed Gurnam Singh.
But today, amid a procession of
happiness and relief, there was a sad face - that of Harjit Kaur from Attari,
who returned empty-handed like she had in the last ten years.
Her father, Joginder Singh, a BSF
jawan who was caught by the Pak forces during the 1971 war, is still missing.
''I was just a few days old when my father was arrested by the Pakistanis.
And hoping against hope, I come here every time,'' she lamented, turning
back from the border.
