By IANS,
G0urdaspur (Punjab) : Gopal Dass, arrested in Pakistan 27 years ago after being dubbed an Indian spy, got a grand welcome Thursday at his Bheni Mia Khan village in this Punjab district. He was garlanded and sweets were distributed amid drum beats.
Scores of villagers gathered on the outskirts of the village to welcome Dass, 50, who was released from a Pakistani jail in the morning. Flowers were showered on him before he was taken around the village in an open vehicle.
“He is our hero and the whole village had gathered to welcome him. Many of them had taken a day off from work to greet him. He was taken in an open jeep all through the village. Before going to his home, he paid obeisance at the village gurudwara, a temple and a dargah,” Anand Veer, Gopal Dass’ brother told IANS.
“There is a marriage-like environment at our village home. Since morning, our relatives and family friends have been coming in huge numbers. We all are very happy. We would stay here for the next two-three days and then go to Chandigarh,” he stated.
“I am very happy I have finally managed to come to India. There was a time when I had lost all hopes of returning. It is a miracle,” Gopal Dass told IANS.
“It is like a dream come true. I am very eager to meet my childhood friends and my relatives,” he said.
Harpal Singh, a villager, said: “We had lost all hopes about Gopal’s return but now we are very happy. We would organise a bash at his house this night to celebrate his return.”
Gopal Dass crossed into Indian Punjab through the Attari-Wagah border check-post, about 30 km from the Sikh holy city of Amritsar. He was arrested in Pakistan in 1984. Since then he had been lodged in a Lahore jail.