ISLAMABAD: Another batch of Pakistanis, including a large number of families belonging to the minority Hindu community, who had moved to India expecting a better life there, retur­ned to Pakistan through Attari-Wagah border after being disappointed by worse living conditions in India.

The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi said in a statement that more than 200 Pakistan nationals returned on Thursday.

“As part of the High Com­mission’s ongoing efforts to assist Pakistan nationals in India, including those stranded due to the Covid-19 pandemic, today, more than 200 Pakistanis were repatriated via Attari-Wagah border,” the statement said.

It said that in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other authorities concerned in Islamabad, including the Ministry of Interior, the High Commi­ssion would continue to extend all possible assistance to the remaining Pakistanis in India seeking to return home as Attari-Wagah border was closed for regular movement due to coronavirus.

Since March 20, the Pakistan High Commission has facilitated travel of more than 1,100 Pakistanis.

The returning Hindu people told the media at the Bab-i-Azadi that they were promised that they would earn a better livelihood and have better prospects for their families in India. However, what they witnessed in India was far from the promises made to them.

One of the returning Hindu elder said they were promised that they would get Indian nationality, but there was no such thing and they waited for three months. Later the people who had brought them to India also discarded them.

The Hindu people expressed satisfaction over returning to their “own country” and said they were feeling very much relieved and safe.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2020