“Pakistan kis taraf hai (In which direction is Pakistan)?” Kapoor Jaan, a 37 year-old-Pakistani prisoner, asked as she was escorted out of the giant gates of the Amritsar Central Jail. When the police gave no reply, a journalist pointed towards her right. She turned to the direction, looked skywards and murmured a prayer.

Jaan was brought here recently from Jammu and Kashmir to meet Pakistani officials to confirm her citizenship and complete other formalities for her release (technically, for consular access). She had strayed into Kashmir from across the Line of Control (LoC) in 2005, and in spite of having completed her six months’ sentence, Pakistani authorities are yet to clear her repatriation.

She was reportedly arrested in the Uri sector when she mistakenly came to the Indian side of the LoC, and booked for travelling without valid traveling documents. She completed her six months’ imprisonment in January 2006.

She was mentally imbalanced when arrested and her condition deteriorated after she was jailed. She had to be admitted in Srinagar’s Government Psychiatric Hospital for treatment. “She was never able to tell her full address though she had been saying that her father’s name is Abdul Aziz Malik. In our records she belongs to Malika Bagh in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK),” said Inspector Vishal Jamwal of the J&K police. He said Jaan has fully recovered from her mental illness and doctors have declared her medically fit. “But Pakistani authorities are not ready to take her back home,” he added.

... contd.