Gopal Dass, who spent 27 years in a Pakistani jail after having been convicted of the charge of spying, returned home on Thursday to an emotional welcome by his family. He was happy to be back, but angry that efforts were not made for his early release.
Mr. Dass, 52, was set free from the Lahore Central Jail after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari remitted his sentence on humanitarian grounds following an appeal by the Indian Supreme Court. He crossed over to the Indian side of the border at Attari.
As soon as he entered India, he bowed his head and kissed the soil, as tears welled up in his eyes.
His brother Anand Vir, two sisters and niece, besides a dozen people from Bhaini Mian Khan village of Punjab's Gurdaspur district, received him with hugs.
Lamenting that he had lost the “golden period of youth in jail,” Mr. Dass asked the Indian government why it was silent for the past 27 years. “I have a grudge against the Indian leadership, which has never bothered about Indian prisoners rotting in prisons in Pakistan for many years. Thirty-two Indian nationals who have completed their jail terms are still languishing [in Pakistani jails] for lack of initiative on the part of the Indian government,” he said.
He claimed that seven Indian prisoners who had completed their sentences died of ill-health. Moreover, nearly a dozen Indian nationals had almost lost their senses.
Thanking Pakistan's President and Prime Minister for releasing him, he said he was also thankful to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Dass, then 25 and unmarried, had crossed over to Pakistan in 1984 and was arrested by the Pakistani Rangers on spying charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was set to be released by this year-end.
Mr. Anand Vir said: “It was the voice of the Supreme Court judge which came out from the deepest core of his heart and heard by the Almighty, which ultimately fell on the ears of the Prime Minister and President of Pakistan, and my brother's release was realised.”
His elder sister Krishna Devi, who is too weak to move but still managed to reach Attari to receive him, said: “Gopal was young when he was arrested in Pakistan, and now there are a lot of changes in his appearance. I am enormously happy to see my brother alive here on Indian soil.” “At one time, the entire family had lost all hope of seeing Dass again, but God is great,” she said.
“I know how I spent 27 years in your absence, since in these years I missed you immensely, especially on Raksha Bandhan and Tikka,” she told Mr. Dass. Navjot, niece of Mr. Dass, said: “My uncle was in prison at the time of my birth. I think God has answered all my prayers.”
On March 27, Mr. Zardari remitted Mr. Dass' term, ahead of Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani's visit to India, at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to watch the World Cup semi-final at Mohali.
