LAHORE: Seventy-eight Pakistani civil internees were handed over to Pakistan by the Indian authorities at the Wagah border checkpost here this morning [Sept 18]. The second batch of 283 Pakistani civilian internees, all belonging to Jammu and Kashmir sector, who were to be handed over to the Pakistan authorities this afternoon, could not reach the border in time, so the programme was changed… . … Of the 78 internees received today, 59 were women, five children and 14 men. Twenty women who were unable to walk were brought in ambulances.

… Each internee was paid Rs. one hundred in cash and [given] a packet containing nine different articles of daily use on behalf of the Pakistan Government… . They were lodged in specially set up camps for some time and entertained to refreshments. Those requiring medical aid were attended to immediately by a team of doctors. Many of the internees were later on handed over to their relations after necessary verifications. … Mixed feelings were expressed by the internees about the treatment meted out to them in Indian jails. ... [An] internee complained that he was kept in chains for at least seven months out of a total stay of nine months in Indian jails. — News agencies

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2022