Kalewal Bhagtan/Singhpur (Hoshiarpur), June 12
Twenty-eight of the 31 Indian youths from Punjab who have been lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail of Pakistan have been observing fast in protest against the alleged failure of the Pakistan and Indian authorities in making arrangements for return to their homes even after the completion of the jail term.
Forty-one youths from Punjab, most of whom were arrested by the Turkish authorities while trying to sneak into Greece via Turkey and were subsequently pushed into Iran and then into Pakistan through Taftaan, have been lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail of Lahore and the Much jail of Balauchistan. Thirty-one of them have been lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail. Almost all of them have been victims of unscrupulous travel agents.
That the 28 Indian youths have been on fast since May 17 has been revealed by Surinder Pal (37), presently lodged in the Kot Lakhpat jail, in a letter which his Kalewal Bhagtan-based family received on June 9. Jasbir Ram, another 25-year-old youth of nearby Singhpur village, who is still lodged in the Much jail since January 13, has also written a letter to his family and has described the plight of nearly 18 boys who were arrested by the Turkish authorities on November 15 last. They subsequently landed in the Much jail.
“Except for Bittu of Lachowal village (Hoshiarpur) and three other Punjabi youths, all of us (28 youths) have been on fast since May 17. But no official came to us and none of the newspapers published news of our lot here. Our three-month sentence was already over in December last, but, despite our writing to the Indian Embassy, nothing has moved. We are observing fast in protest against the indifferent attitude of our government,” said Surinder Pal in his letter.
Kamaljit (35), wife of Surinder Pal, said it was the second letter of her husband who had gone to Lebanon in search of greener pastures.
