AMRITSAR: Indian immigration officials detained 36 Afghan Army deserters who had crossed over to India from Pakistan at Attari railway station, about 25 km from here.

Police officials said the Afghan nationals, 34 of them Sikhs, had joined the Sikh jatha which returned from Pakistan after visiting shrines there, The deserters had no passports and other relevant documents. They were handed over to the GRP, which registered cases under the Passport Act and the Foreigners Act against them.

The deserters, who were in the age group 1620, were produced in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Baldev Singh. He remanded them in police custody till November 26,

They have been sent to the joint interrogation center here. During preliminary inter rogation, the Afghan nationals said they were forcibly recruited in the Army fighting the Mujahideen. They were not sent to the Battlefield but made to do menial jobs at Army camps. The miserable living conditions and the harassment forced them to cross over to Pakistan, only to be captured by security men there. The Afghan nationals said they were kept in a Pakistani jail for four months and later told to join the Sikh jatha at Nankana Sabhib. Some of the deserters carried Army identity cards. A few of them said their parents had already fled to India using genuine pass ports as their homes in suburbs of Kabul were destroyed during shelling.

Pilgrims returning from Pakis tan said there was resentment and fear among Pakistani Hindus in Sind province, where a number of temples were attacked by mobs enraged by the “shilanyas” ceremony at Ayodhya recently, a large number of Sindhi Hindus had fled their homes and taken shelter in the gurdwaras at Nankana Sahib and Dera Sahib.

A number of pilgrims said anti India and pro Khalistan” slogans were raised by certain radical elements at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, where the main birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dey were held a group of pilgrims was rounded up by Pakistani security men for raising anti India slogans, but were later freed at the intervention of jatha members.

The immigration officials also detained a woman member of the Sikh jatha who was found carrying gold biscuits and textiles worth Rs 50.000.

 

Article extracted from this publication >>  December 8, 1989