Out of Pakistan jails, 20 rush into waiting arms

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.