The Hindu : Other States / Jammu & Kashmir News : Peace process brings little cheer for these families

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Sunday, May 15, 2005

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Other States - Jammu & Kashmir

Peace process brings little cheer for these families

Staff Reporter

People across borders remain in each other's jails for inadvertent straying as the deportation procedure remains lengthy

JAMMU: Irrespective of the headway being made in improvement of relations between India and Pakistan, number of people on both sides of the border remain in each other jails for the charge of inadvertent straying as the deportation procedure remains lengthy and too bureaucratic. The pain on both sides of the border is the same as the families wait for the day when their travails would end.

Yet another Pakistani family has contacted The Hindu here to help them to get their son released from an Indian jail where he is lodged for the last ten months as the boy inadvertently strayed across the Indo-Pak International border from Shakergarh tehsil of Pakistan.

Mubarik Ali, a twenty-year-old boy belongs to Sialkot district of Pakistan and had crossed over to this side of the Indo-Pak International Border about 10 months ago from the Shakergarh tehsil. Abdul Hamid father of Mubarik Ali, a resident of Sialkot district of Pakistan (11 Kms from here) told The Hindu that his son Mubarik Ali whose age is 20 years crossed the border ten months back and not much is known about him. The boy was mentally depressed, he added.

When contacted the State Financial Commissioner, Home SD Singh disclosed that the boy has been identified and is presently in Kot Bhalwal central jail located on the periphery of the city. It is learnt that the state government has already forwarded the case of the boy to the Central Government for deportation. The family of 20-year-old Pakistan, Mubarak Ali was encouraged by the release of Amir Ali, a resident of Multan area of south-western Pakistan this April. The family of Mubarik Ali had established contact with Amir Ali's family after the latter's release. It may be mentioned that this April, Amir Ali a third-year electrical engineering student at Lahore University was among 24 Pakistan nationals who returned home after spending more than three years in an Indian jail. For more than a year since he strayed into Indian territory, the parents of the boy had little clue about his whereabouts.

The family had contacted The Hindu for locating his whereabouts and the boy was finally located at the Ramgarh police station on September 19, 2003, one km from the International Border. The boy was able to speak to his parents (in Pakistan) on a mobile set and finally after long deportation formalities he was released in April this year.

Number of inmates belonging to Jammu and Kashmir continue to languish in Pakistan jails although their families have provided conclusive evidence in this direction. For instance Ishara Devi, 80, is still waiting for her son lodged in a Pakistan jail for the last 18 years after he strayed into that country.

A resident of Hiranagar in Kathua district ,she has received postal letters from her son Babu Ram from Lahore jail where he has been lodged. Babu strayed into Sialkot district of Pakistan on April 8, 1988 and was sentenced to jail for 12 years. Babu completed his sentence in 1999 but was not deported. In his letter, Babu has asked his mother to contact authorities on this side to expedite his release. Devendra Singh, who was released from the Pakistan jail, too contacted the family of Babu and confirmed his whereabouts. What adds to the plight of the family is the fact Babu Ram has never seen his daughter who was born after he was caught by the Pakistani authorities.

Similarly the family of Subedar Assa Singh, a soldier captured by the Pakistan army in 1971-72 war is still waiting for any information about him. Number of Indian nationals who were released by Pakistan government over the years have confirmed the presence of Subedar Assa Singh in the same Pakistan jail where they were lodged.

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Peace process brings little cheer for these families