NEW DELHI, 19 May 2003 — Pakistan yesterday released 20 Indian prisoners from its jails and sent them to India through the Wagah border.
The prisoners were released in a goodwill gesture that has been welcomed by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
The prisoners were received at the border by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) officials.
The 20 prisoners, including six Sikh youths and 14 Gujarati crew members of Indian cargo ship ‘Raj Lakshmi’, were to be released on Saturday following Pakistan’s announcement that it would release 300 Indian prisoners.
All the six Sikh youths released were arrested in Pakistan after they were pushed into Pakistan territory from Iran. They had been lodged in Mach and Kota jails in Balochistan province in Pakistan.
The six Sikh youths who were released were Amarjit Singh, Surinder Singh, Surjit Lal, Gurmeet Singh, Karam Singh and Gurnam Singh. Gian Chand, father of Amarjit Singh, was in tears on seeing his son. “He had spent 60,000 rupees to go to Lebanon but was duped by fake travel agents who promised him a visa and a job in Turkey,” he said.
Mohinder Kaur was at the border along with her two grandchildren, four-year-old Harpreet and two-year-old Jashandeep, to receive her son Surinder Singh. Singh had left Mehlanwali village in Yamunanagar district in Haryana two years ago seeking greener pastures.
His family had paid 400,000 rupees to a travel agent in Delhi who had assured a safe passage to England. Instead he landed himself in Mach jail in Pakistan after being deported from England.
His father Mukhtiar Singh had not seen his son for the last eight years. “We had no news from Surinder for the last one year. A prisoner in Pakistan belonging to a village in Patiala wrote to his family about him. This was reported in a vernacular newspaper on Saturday.”
Swaran Singh, brother of Gurmeet Singh of Tiberpura village in Punjab, said they had mortgaged their land to send Gurmeet abroad but later came to know he was in a jail in Pakistan.
The 14 crew members of ‘Raj Lakshmi’ were received by Gujarat Marine Board member Sudhir Chaddha.
They had sailed for Dubai two years ago but while returning their ship caught fire and was forced to anchor at a Pakistani port. They were treated as illegal immigrants in Pakistan and sent to jail.
Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had announced their release earlier this month as a part of confidence-building measure. Then Jamali had said that Islamabad would release 22 Sikhs, 14 crewmembers of ‘Raj Lakshmi’ and around 300 fishermen.
The others are to be released following completion of an identification process, which has been initiated by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
Meanwhile, track two diplomacy being pursued by Indians and Pakistanis at the unofficial level is picking greater speed. The two nations’ delegations, comprising former diplomats, retired military men and bureaucrats will meet in Katmandu next month.
Professor A.N. Khusro, former vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University will head the Indian delegation while former Foreign Secretary Niaz A. Naik will head the Pakistani delegation.
Before leaving for Katmandu for their June 12 meeting, the two delegations are expected to meet their respective prime ministers.
