With lockdowns in force across the world due to the novel coronavirus, incidents of xenophobia, intolerance and propagation of fake news have grown in many countries. In these dire times, many have felt there is a paucity of ‘good’ news.
But the repatriation of 41 Pakistani nationals, who were stranded in India, on Thursday via the Attari border post, proved that acts of kindness and goodwill still exist. The 41 Pakistanis had been stranded in India on account of closure of borders and the subsequent lockdown. These 41 people had come to India separately and had travelled to Agra, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.
One of these stranded Pakistanis was Ehsan Ahmad, who works as a marketing manager in the US. Ehsan told THE WEEK that he had arrived in Punjab on March 12 to visit his grandfather's ancestral village in Gurdaspur. He was due to return to Pakistan on March 19, but got stranded as the border was closed. His visa expired on March 19, but got extended until April 30 after the ministry of external affairs had allowed a blanket extension.
While he travelled alone to Punjab, getting stranded at Attari on March 19 had one benefit for Ehsan. "I met some of the families while trying to cross the border on March 19; we couldn’t [cross] that day but stayed in touch. After getting stranded, I along with others, reached out to the High Commission [of Pakistan] in Delhi, which informed me of other stranded families in the region and got us in touch with them, so we could help each other out during the lockdown,” Ehsan said.
After spending over two weeks, Ehsan on April 6 reached out to retired Supreme Court justice Markandey Katju for assistance. In recent years, after his retirement, Katju has worked to increase people-to-people contacts between Indians and Pakistanis. Ehsan noted that "I came to know about justice Katju because of his work in bringing the citizens of the two countries together. I was really inspired by his vision of a peaceful subcontinent where there is no discrimination on the basis of faith."
In an email, Ehsan told Katju that the condition of some of the stranded families was getting more difficult. Katju immediately forwarded Ehsan's request to Prabhu Dayal, a retired diplomat who has served as India's ambassador to Kuwait and Morocco and had been posted to a number of locations, including New York and Pakistan. Dayal forwarded the request from Ehsan to a joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs and other officials on April 7.
In little over a week, Ehsan and 40 other Pakistanis were repatriated via Attari with special permission from the Indian government.
Recounting his experience in India, Ehsan noted that the local administration and police in Punjab behaved in a professional manner during the lockdown. The stranded Pakistanis were also visited by medical officers. "And as soon as we got permission to cross the border, the local DC sprang into action and provided the necessary paperwork to make the journey, and the local SP office gave the necessary exit permission required to exit through Attari border," Ehsan said.
Ehsan said he was deeply moved by his time in Punjab. "The trip, I feel, will be memorable forever because the one month I stayed, I experienced life as a local. I went about life as usual, buying fruit and vegetables from local vendors and eating home-cooked food, lovingly prepared by local families. I was supposed to stay only one week but I ended up staying a month and that one month is a story, I feel, I can tell to my kids and grandkids," Ehsan stated.
Katju, however, was restrained in responding to the praise from Ehsan. In a post on his Facebook page, Katju noted, "I only did my duty as a human being". Markandey Katju added that another former diplomat, Vivek Katju, had helped in the matter. Vivek Katju had served as India's ambassador to Afghanistan, Myanmar and Thailand.
