India returns 82-year-old villager who strayed across LoC

MUZAFFARABAD: An 82-year-old villager from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), who had inadvertently strayed into the Indian-occupied territory of the disputed Himalayan region on Tuesday, was repatriated by the Indian authorities via the Tetrinote-Chakan da Bagh crossing point along the Line of Control (LoC) on Thursday.

Munir Hussain had left his home in the Battal sector of Poonch district to join his wife who was grazing cattle there. However, the octogenarian villager, suffering from some mental ailments for about four years, went astray and set foot on India occupied territory, where he was apprehended by an army patrol.

The family and government officials in AJK came to know about his ordeal on Wednesday after the Indian media ran stories about an “intruder.”

Waleed Anwar, assistant commissioner of Hajira, of which Battal sector is a part, told Dawn that Indian authorities were reached by their Pakistani counterparts the same day for his repatriation in accordance with an understanding between the two sides about inadvertent crossers.

Mr Anwar said the repatriation took place at about 4pm through the Tetrinote-Chakan da Bagh, which was one of three active crossing points at the LoC before India unilaterally suspended the intra-Kashmir travel and trade, shortly before scrapping the special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.

Wearing a new black kurta and white shalwar gifted by the Indian authorities along with a box of sweets, Mr Hussain was greeted first by his son, Mohammad Rasheed, upon entering the liberated territory through an iron gate that marks the divide between two sides.

His nephew, Liaqat Hussain, cousin Mohammad Akbar and numerous jubilant fellow villagers were also present on the occasion in addition to the concerned civil and military officials.

“There is an atmosphere of jubilation not only in our home but also in the entire village on his safe return because in some similar cases in the past, people have met tragedies at the LoC,” Liaqat Hussain told Dawn by telephone from Gulshan Colony in Battal sector.

Presumably, the 42-year-old countryman was referring to the shooting of AJK residents by the Indian army while they were either collecting herbs, cutting fodder or grazing cattle close to the unmarked dividing line.

“We are grateful to our armed forces and our civil administration for their role in his early return,” he said.

“At the same time, I also express my gratitude to the Indian authorities for sending him back alive.” He said Mr Hussain, who also suffered from hypertension, felt exhausted by the unplanned trekking through the forests, he was taking rest, after being given his medication.

“But people are constantly visiting us to extend felicitations.”