After 11 yrs in Amritsar jail, Pak sisters return home

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 2

Their prayers were answered after 11 long years as two Pakistani sisters, Fatima and Mumtaz, along with Fatima’s India-born daughte Heena, left for Pakistan via the Attari border this afternoon.

The sisters  were arrested at the Attari railway station in 2006 for carrying drugs. They were released from the Amritsar jail in the morning.

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Fatima and Mumtaz, along with mother Rashida Bibi, were arrested on May 8, 2006, while they were on their way to Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh to meet their maternal uncles.

The three women were sentenced to 10 years and fined Rs 4 lakh. Fatima, who was pregnant then, gave birth to Heena while in jail the same year. Rashida Bibi died of ill-health in 2008. 

Local lawyer Navjot Kaur Chhaba fought a legal battle on their behalf. She even approached the PMO in September this year. 

Despite having completed the sentence in November 2015, the three had to stay put in the jail transit camp as they were unable to pay the hefty fine imposed by the courts. 

Chhaba arranged the money through Batala-based NGO, Sarbat Da Bhala Humanity Club, on April 7 this year. 

Despite that, it took seven months for the Union Home and External Affairs Ministries to clear their release.

Pakistan High Commission counsellor Fauzia Manzoor visited Amritsar in August this year and conferred Pakistani nationality on Heena.

Fatima comes from Gujranwala whereas Mumtaz, who is unmarried, is a resident of Sikanderabad.  They had argued in the court that the 400-gram smack seized from a bag in their possession belonged to an unknown fellow passenger who vanished on arrival at the Attari station, but their claim could not be authenticated. Consequently, the court pronounced their conviction.

As they left Amritsar for Attari, Heena said, “I love India where I was born and received my primary education. I want to become a doctor. I am excited at the prospect of meeting my father, brother and sisters for the first time. If you ask me my nationality, I would say humanity.”

Though Mumtaz showed traces of resentment against the Indian authorities for “implicating them in a false case”, Fatima seemed to have made peace with the situation. Fatima thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for expediting their release and Chabba for tirelessly fighting their case, that too without charging them anything. “Let bygones be bygones. I am happy to be reuniting with my family after more than a decade,” she said.

And their lawyer was on cloud nine. “It is a true ‘Bandi Chhor Divas’ for me as I tried so hard to get things going. I am so happy to have won this particular fight,” she signed off.

And as they were given an emotional farewell here, the two elder women had mixed feelings on their return journey -- they did lose their mother in jail, but had the satisfaction of a new entry into the family in the 11-year-old Heena.

Sarbat Da Bhala Humanity Club president Navtej Guggu gifted Heena a gold chain having a locket with miniature flags of India and Pakistan, while Chabba bought her pink dress and purse on her demand.