India sends imprisoned Pakistani back home

Man was jailed for 23 years; repatriation performed as goodwill gesture

LAHORE: The Indian government handed over a Pakistani citizen imprisoned in India for 23 years. Opting for "backdoor diplomacy", the repatriation was performed as a goodwill gesture to the government on Tuesday.

The man, Syed Sajid Ali Bukhari, belongs to Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and mistakenly crossed the border entering Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK).

On September 8, 1995, Indian forces apprehended him in IoK and imprisoned him. Bukhari stayed in Srinagar jail for many years; his case was registered under RPC section 302, 307 and sections 3, 5, at Prempura police station.

Bukhari's citizenship was confirmed in July 2006 after which the process of repatriation was initiated. He was handed over to Pakistan's Punjab Rangers by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF).



Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi also played a crucial role in Bukhari's release. Numerous Pakistani and Indian citizens, due to non-verification of citizenship, are forced to spend their days behind bars in both countries.

Last week, a 22-year-old patient of sickle cell anemia, who had traversed into Pakistan's territory unintentionally five years ago, was handed back to India as a goodwill gesture.

Jitendra Arjunwar, a resident of Indian state Madhya Pradesh, had entered Pakistan from the Rajasthan border on August 12, 2013 following an argument with his family.

He was kept in Hyderabad jail after being sentenced to one-year imprisonment by the court and shifted to Karachi on completing his jail term in 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2018.