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8216;8216;I am alive again. Mein khush hoon, mein apne mulk mein hoon I am happy I am back in my country,8217;8217; said Arif, struggling to piece together the right words to describe the moment they had been dreaming of, every since they strayed across the border into a Pakistani jail, shortly after the Kargil war.

8216;8216;At one point, we lost all hope. We never thought that we would be able to return home and be one with our families again,8217;8217; said Jagsir, before breaking down as his brother Jagmeet handed over his homecoming present 8212; his four-year-old daughter Kuldeep, born while her father was away.

Dazed by the spotlights, she clung to her father, kissing him on his hands and cheeks, before offering him her own little gift 8212; a packet of cream biscuits. Jagsir8217;s widowed mother Chotto Kaur tied a 8216;8216;sacred red thread8217;8217; on her son8217;s wrist to 8216;8216;ward off evil8217;8217;, as wife Jaswinder kept saying 8216;8216;everything will be alright now8217;8217;.

A few feet away, it was a difficult homecoming for Arif, whose mother had passed away and wife Guria remarried 8212; both in his absence. Sobbing uncontrollably, he clung to his brother Abdul Hamid and sister-in-law Sanjida.

Later, he expressed the hope that he would be able to join his unit soon, adding that he had no recollection of how he strayed into Pakistani territory. He also had no clue about the location of the jail, which was his home for the last five years. But both of them maintained that the jail authorities did not give them any reason to complain.

The story of Arif and Jagsir was first highlighted by The Indian Express, which then followed it up with a sustained campaign that led to the deserter tag being dropped, then consular access, and finally, the release.

Today8217;s dramatic homecoming though had its share of tense moments as the exchange of prisoners was delayed by almost two hours. Apparently, the Amritsar civil administration failed to issue the release orders of four Pakistani nationals waiting at the Central Jail here.

The four Pakistanis, who were handed back to authorities across the border in exchange for Jagsir and Arif, were 35-year-old

Sepoy Salim Ali Shah of Northern Light Infantry, Rashid Mehnaz Khan 18 and his schoolmate Md Ibrar Khan 17 and octogenarian Nawab Din.

Meanwhile, Deputy GOC 15 Infantry Division, Brig V K Chona, refused to comment on how Jagsir and Arif came to be declared deserters. 8216;8216;The incident took place post-Kargil. It is not appropriate to answer questions which pertain to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs,8217;8217; he said.

Ruling out any court of inquiry to pin down the officers who declared the two soldiers deserters, he, however, said an in-house investigation would be conducted.