The Hindu : Front Page : 583 prisoners walk free at Wagah

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 13, 2005

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Front Page

583 prisoners walk free at Wagah

Sarabjit Pandher

HOME SWEET HOME: Officials and others welcome Indian prisoners released from Pakistan jails at the Wagah border post on Monday. — Photo: AP

CHANDIGARH: Amid emotional scenes, India and Pakistan on Monday scripted history by repatriating 583 prisoners, the largest such mutual exchange during peacetime.

Against 152 Pakistani nationals who were listed to walk free, only 148 were repatriated as the documents of the remaining four were found to be incomplete. On the other hand, Pakistan returned 435 Indian nationals, including 371 fishermen. The rest included 51 youths from Punjab who had been duped by unscrupulous travel agents.

The process of repatriation, identification and handing over of the released to their relatives at the Attari-Wagah joint check post along the Indo-Pakistan border is expected to be completed late in the night.

According to witnesses in Amritsar, a shortage of staff led to mismanagement as the local police had a tough time controlling anxious relatives who were held back at the outer gate of the check post, almost a kilometre away from the zero line. No arrangements had been made for the relatives who braved the humid weather since morning for a glimpse of their loved ones. Border Security Force (BSF) jawans carried out the daily retreat ceremony at the Wagah post without the usual fanfare of spectators cheering them as they lowered the tricolour at sunset.

Following the simultaneous repatriation, authorities detained a released prisoner for questioning for a couple of hours. Relatives were then summoned to identify the released person before allowing him to walk free. Once outside the outer gate of the check post, the other waiting relatives welcomed him with garlands and sweets.

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