WAGAH, India, 10 August 2004 — From deserters to heroes, the two Indian soldiers had traveled a long way in the four years, 10 months and 22 days they spent in a Pakistani jail — a journey that ended yesterday when they crossed over into homeland.
It was an emotional moment at this border check post here as the soldiers — Lance Naik Jasgeer Singh from Punjab and Sapper Mohammed Arif from Uttar Pradesh — returned to India after being released by Pakistani security agencies.
Four Pakistani nationals, a soldier and three civilians, who had strayed into India in the last few years were handed over in the brief exchange ceremony here.
As their families looked on, the general officer commanding (GOC) of the Indian Army’s 15 Division, Maj. Gen. Naagal, shook hands with Singh and Arif and welcomed them back after their long months in a Rawalpindi jail.
The Indian Army had declared the duo as deserters after they reportedly strayed into Pakistani territory in August 1999 following the Kargil conflict between the two countries. It was only earlier this year that the army learned that they were lodged in a Pakistani prison.
But that seemed all in the past as the two soldiers, wearing the traditional Pakistani male dress of shalwar kameez met their family members.
Arif, who belongs to a village near Meerut, was hugged by a nephew as his brother and sister-in-law could barely hold back their tears when he entered the Indian side of the gates at Wagah.
“I am so happy. It’s a new life for me. At one stage we had lost hope but things materialized somehow,” Arif said.
He said he did not remember how they strayed into Pakistan.
Despite the ordeal, he said he wanted to rejoin the army after a break. He was philosophical about being temporarily labeled a deserter: “The army didn’t know about our whereabouts so it happened.”
If it was an emotive moment for Arif, for Singh it was a moment he would always cherish — he saw his four-year-old daughter Kuldeep for the first time as she was born after he went missing. Waiting to greet him as he crossed into India with Kuldeep was his aged mother Chhoto Kaur.
Singh said he was happy to be back.
After the tearful reunions, both soldiers were whisked away by army authorities to an adjoining building near the check post for a debriefing.
Before being handed over, the two Indian soldiers and the four Pakistani nationals being returned as well as the relatives on either side spent anxious minutes as border security officials took their time completing the tedious formalities.
Among the four Pakistanis released was Sepoy Salim Ali Shah of Pakistan Infantry’s Northern Light regiment.
He told reporters that they were all happy to be going back home.
“I wish people languishing in jails on either side would be released faster,” he said, adding that he was treated well in Indian jails. The Indian Army had declared Singh and Arif deserters in September 1999. The blot was removed only after the soldiers wrote to their respective relatives in January seeking help for their release.
The army then realized that the soldiers had not deserted the force but were in Pakistani custody.
Their status was changed to prisoners of war (POW). Director generals of military operations of both countries then started the process for release of soldiers on either side.
Arif and Singh had strayed into Pakistani territory across the Line of Control in Kargil sector in August 1999 during de-mining operations following the conflict. They were immediately arrested by Pakistani forces.
