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The Indian Express, July 05, 2001
Pak boy in Indian jail can’t
speak, now he can spell hope
Muzamil Jaleel
Srinagar, July 4: HE’S a boy with no name. He doesn’t
understand confidence-building measures, has no idea General
Pervez Musharraf is coming, perhaps has never heard of him. All
he wants is his mother, living across the border, in Pakistan.
He sits in his cell in a two-storey building here, weeping, Amma,
Amma, and pointing towards the mountains, where she lives.
Everybody knows he is innocent, yet no one will let him leave.
This boy is hearing-impaired, he can’t speak except for that
one word Amma, he is among the 52 Pakistanis jailed in a heavily
guarded building that once housed the stables of the Dogra kings
of Jammu and Kashmir. This is the Joint Interrogation Centre and
with today’s announcement that India might release all
Pakistani civilian prisoners after due process of law, hopes here
have soared.
The boy was arrested last November when he inadvertently crossed
over the Line of Control in the Karnah sector while grazing
cattle. He cannot explain who he is or exactly where he is from;
the only information other inmates have gleaned is that his home
is somewhere in Lepa Valley (PoK). Officials identify him wryly
as ‘‘Goonga waldi behra (dumb son of deaf)’’.
‘‘He has been crying for days together,’’
says a police officer, seeking anonymity. ‘‘He tries to
signal that he wants to go back to his mother and his cattle. He
has been trying to show that he didn’t cross over
deliberately.’’
The officer admits that the boy has done no harm except the crime
of ‘‘crossing the line (the border)’’.
‘‘If the two leaders take a decision to exchange
prisoners during the summit,’’ he adds, ‘‘he
will be free within a day.’’ A JIC inmate has now taken
up the cause of such ‘‘imprisoned
innocents’’. Hashim Qureshi, who hijacked an Indian
plane to Lahore in 1971, was arrested in Delhi last December when
he decided to return to India. According to him, ‘‘law
has no meaning’’ at the JIC. ‘‘Saleem Zargar
(a militant commander) has spent more than 12 years in jail now.
Six months ago, he was lodged here despite being acquitted in all
the cases against him...They can jail anybody for any number of
years. There are many inmates here who are not even
militants.’’
Although the treatment of prisoners at the JIC has improved a
lot, its name still sends shivers down people’s backs. Till
a few years ago, the centre was located in the neighbouring
building. Called Papa 2, it was more known as a torture chamber.
‘‘This place is meant for interrogating people who are
involved in serious cases,’’ admits Additional Director
General of J-K Police Kuldeep Khuda.
Hammed Ganai hope the Indo-Pak summit will end their tenure here.
Ganai doesn’t understand the nuances of the summit, but hope
glows on his face as he hears it might lead to the release of
prisoners. Ganai was arrested several months ago with
‘‘15 bullets on his person’’, but again JIC
officials privately accept he is innocent and was picked up in
place of someone else. Qureshi, who is a strong proponent of
independent Kashmir, has also pinned a lot of hopes on the
summit. ‘‘If it makes a serious effort to extinguish
the fires of hatred between the two countries, it serves its
purpose,’’ he says.
However, he has an own peace plan to resolve the Kashmir dispute
within 20 years. ‘‘Call all military and paramilitary
forces to barracks, set all prisoners free, stop religious
extremist groups from indulging in hatred campaigns, provide
maximum autonomy to Kashmir on both sides of the border, and let
people move around freely with an easy permit system,’’
Qureshi elaborates.
Outside the gates of the JIC, an elderly woman is pleading with
the cops to let her in. She has brought some food for her son,
who is imprisoned inside. ‘‘I too heard that Musharraf
and Vajpayee are meeting,’’ she says. ‘‘But
how does it matter to us as long as bloodshed continues here? I
pray for the release of my son. But at times I feel that inside
at least he is safe. Outside, it is worse than a
jail.’’
Perhaps they are right. Unless the atmosphere between India and
Pakistan improves, a Vikas Singh won’t make a difference,
innocents will always end up in prison. And somewhere, a mother
will keep waiting for her son to come home.