MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistani officials on Saturday repatriated two Kashmiri youths who had separately strayed into the territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from across the Line of Control (LoC) more than two years ago.

The goodwill gesture on the part of Pakistan was in sharp contrast to Thursday’s incident when a Pakistani woman who had inadvertently crossed the Working Boundary was shot dead by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel near Sialkot.

Repatriation of 23-year-old Bilal Ahmed and 24-year-old Arfaz Yousuf was held at Kaman Bridge at the Chakothi-Uri crossing point, some 60 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad, in the presence of civilian and military officials from both sides.

Ahmed, a resident of Gurez village, and Yousuf, a resident of Kupwara, in India-held Kashmir had crossed the LoC “by mistake” in July 2015 and January 2014 from Nikru and Chilyana sectors, respectively, according to officials.

They were stuck in AJK and their return became possible after completion of necessary procedural requirements in this regard, the officials said.

The officials assembled in the middle of Kaman Bridge to carry out the repatriation process, including their medical examination by doctors from both sides. The whole process took one and a quarter hours.

The Pakistani officials had also brought gifts, such as clothes, sweaters, bags and shoes, apart from two baskets of sweets, which were given to the youths on the occasion.

Ahmed’s brother Mohammad Javed and Yousuf’s father Mohammad Yousuf, who were accompanying Indian officials, gave them tearful hugs.

“The moment they saw one another on the bridge they broke into tears,” said Basharat Gardezi, additional SHO in the Chinari police station.

“It was a moving scene,” he added.

Such gestures from the Pakistani side are not uncommon.

In April last year, Pakistani authorities had repatriated a woman namely Shakeela Bano from the Chakothi-Uri crossing point, two years after she had strayed into the AJK territory allegedly in a fit of rage.

Prior to that in July 2015, two teenage Kashmiri boys — 18-year-old Imtiaz and 17-year-old Saleem — were repatriated from the Chilyana-Titwal crossing point, a week after they had inadvertently strayed into the AJK territory.

In December 2014, Nasreen Bibi, 12, was repatriated from the Chakothi-Uri crossing point, three days after she had strayed into the AJK territory.

However, on Feb 23 this year, when mentally ill Rasheeda Bibi, 53, hailing from Sialkot district’s Diawara village, crossed the Working Boundary after losing her way, she was shot dead by the BSF soldiers.

Her body was later handed over by the Indian border authorities to her family in the presence of Pakistan Rangers officials.

Our Correspondent from Sialkot adds: Rasheeda Bibi was laid to rest later in her hometown in the Bajwat Sector. A large number of locals and family members attended the funeral prayers.

People in the area joined the grieved family and held a demonstration against the brutal killing. They urged the Pakistani government to take up the matter at international forums.

According to senior officials, the mentally unstable woman hailed from the border village Diyawarha-Phookaliyan. She had accidentally crossed into Indian territory and was shot dead by BSF soldiers.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2017