By IANS
Attari (Punjab) : Pakistani national Mohammad Sharif, released from an Indian jail, stepped onto his homeland Monday evening, marking the end of a 16-year ordeal during which he languished in jails and even faced the gallows, thanks to his brother.
The 23-year-old young man was emotional as immigration officials at this land border check post between India and Pakistan completed formalities for his crossing back into Pakistan and the Border Security Force (BSF) handed him over to the Pakistani Rangers.
“I am happy to be going back home finally. It is a miracle that I am still alive despite what my brother did to me. I feel sad that my father passed away recently, waiting for my return. But I am longing to see my mother. My family presumed me to be dead several years ago,” an emotional Sharif, clad in jeans and a black jacket, said just before stepping onto Pakistan through the heavy iron gates.
When he was seven years of age, Sharif was taken from his hometown Karachi to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia by his brother Abdul Gafoor in 1991.
That was the beginning of his nightmare.
His brother accused him of attempting to rape his wife – a charge that led a court to sentence him to the gallows – but an appeal in a higher court led to his exoneration after doctors declared that a boy of his age could not commit rape.
Not letting him live in peace, his brother got him a forged passport and got him arrested. Saudi authorities put him back in prison and deported him to Mumbai. From there, Sharif reached Lucknow after people told him that the trains to Pakistan start from there.
In Lucknow, he was arrested again and sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing a fake passport.
The young boy thus lost his childhood and teenage languishing in prisons in Saudi Arabia and India.
It was only after human rights bodies in India and Pakistan came to know about his plight that his case was taken up with the governments of the two countries.
Pakistan initially refused to acknowledge him as its citizen. Finally, he was brought to the Sikh holy city of Amritsar Sunday from Lucknow, after his release from prison, and handed over to Pakistani authorities.
“I want to do tailoring once I am back in Karachi and united with my family,” Sharif said about his future plans.