Wanted: someone to step up and bring them home from Pak

There's a 45-year-old man who the inmates call Devdas, he doesn’t know how many years he’s been in Pakistan. There’s Teena, 3...

There’s a 45-year-old man who the inmates call Devdas, he doesn’t know how many years he’s been in Pakistan. There’s Teena, 32, she was arrested nine years ago in Jinnah market in Islamabad. They are two of the 12 Indians, officially classified as ‘‘mentally unstable,’’ all in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, waiting for the peace process to throw up someone who can come and maybe take them home.

Four months after the Indian High Commission obtained consular access to 77 prisoners in this jail, the plight of this despairing dozen is more poignant—none of them can furnish details sufficient enough to facilitate repatriation. Like proof of identity, details of family and address in India.

Whatever information could be collected—based on conversations with them—has since been passed on by the High Commission officials to the Home Ministry in New Delhi. This process ended in March and three months on, there has been no response. All that the Home Ministry says it has done is to forward the information to the respective state police agencies for ‘‘action.’’

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It’s learnt that most of these ‘‘prisoners’’ were picked up for straying across the border, overstaying in Pakistan or lack of proper documentation. They finished serving their prison sentence long ago but have continued to stay on because the tension between India and Pakistan created an almost insurmountable obstacle for their release.

However, the peace process had its effect and the Indian side was given consular access to 77 prisoners in Kot Lakhpat jail in February. While this was good news, it meant little.

For, the prisoners’ mental condition meant that the information they gave did not add up for the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to issue an emergency certificate for travel to India. Officials here said that in many cases, jail authorities were also reluctant to help with more details.

What next? In such cases, NGOs can come forward and take responsibility of the prisoner to help locate relatives. While this is a viable option, not much has been attempted in this direction. It may be noted that in the case of Fatimabi, a Mumbai riot victim who found herself overstaying in Pakistan after her second marriage failed (first reported in The Sunday Express, Feb 20), the Government had identified an NGO in India to facilitate her release.

Now, of course, there is a mechanism to repatriate prisoners after they complete their sentence. But this was signed only last December and these dozen ‘‘mentally unstable’’ persons have been languishing in Pakistani jails.

The government, however, maintains that if any Indian citizen were to come forward and identify any of these persons, then it will expedite their repatriation from Pakistan.

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