Love blurs borders: Youth yearns to get out of Pak jail
Sachin Saini and Mukesh Mathrani
JAIPUR/BARMER: In November 2020, Gemara Ram Meghwal was 17 and in love. The girl was a classmate from his village, the small Kumaharo Ka Teeba in Rajasthan’s Barmer, two-and-ahalf kilometres away from the international border with Pakistan. He had been warned off the relationship, by the girl’s parents, and even his own. But he was young and obstinate, and one winter night, decided it was time for drastic measures.
But life had other plans in store for him.
Circa June 2022 and Gemara Ram has spent close to a year and a half in a Pakistani jail, without the information that his father has died, or that his mother has lost her mind. On May 27, he wrote a letter to his family from a Karachi prison, begging for their forgiveness, and asking to be brought home. At Kumaharo Ka Teeba, a desert vill a g e wh e r e the homes are mud and thatch, Satram Meghwal(26), Gemaram’s elder brother talks exasperatedly of his difficult younger sibling. The family is poor, all eight brothers daily wage labourers, with three sisters. “The girl is also from our village and he fell in love with her in school. This was when both of them started going to the secondary level school two kilometres away. They would walk together and that brought them closer together,” Satram said.
But the girl’s parents soon found out, and in the months preceding November, angrily confronted Gemara Ram, as well as his family. “We assured them and managed to calm them down. It would not continue, we said. In fact, we sent him off to Jodhpur, 300 kilometres away to work with our brother Juggta Ram, who is a labourer,” Satram said.
But the boy was determined, and without telling his family, returned to the village on November 4. He had a bag with his belongings in his hand. The plan was to elope. It was dark, and Gemara Ram stepped into the girl’s house, and tried to wake her up. Instead, it was the girl’s irate father that caught hold of his arm. Suddenly, terribly afraid of the consequences, all Ram could do was run as fast as he could. At some point, in the pitch black, he tried to call the girl, but an even angrier mother picked up the phone. He ran again. It was the last that was seen of him.
The girl’s father accosted
Satram at home, and again assurances that this would not happen again were given. “For the first few days, we thought he was hiding. But then days passed, and there was no word from him,” Satram said. The then station house officer of the Bijrad police station, Jetha Ram confirmed to HT that Gemara Ram’s father, Jama Ram filed a missing persons complaint on November 7.
On November 14, personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF), stationed 2.5 kilometres away at the India-pakistan border arrived at the family’s home. They enquired if a young boy called Gemara Ram was missing. When the information checked out, they told the family that sometime in the middle of that fateful night, as he was running, Ram had crossed over into Pakistan, and that he was now in jail.
Inadvertent border crossings are not unusual. A defence official who has spent time in the area said, “The border is fenced, but dust storms or the flow of water during the rainy season means that the sands shift under the fence, creating a gap. There have been many such crossings inadvertently.”
Devastation followed. His 65-year-old father, died in his sleep within days of his son’s disappearance. His mother, Amku Devi(60), has lost her mind, constantly asking her children if her son has returned, and saying very little else.
Six months later, a case against Gemara Ram was registered at the Mithadar police station in Karachi on April 24, 2021 under sections of the Foreigners Act.
On August 21, the court of additional session judge-xi, Karachi South, pronounced a six-month rigourous imprisonment sentence and a ₹10,000 fine, and directed that he only be deported to India after the completion of his sentence.
More than three months after his sentence ended, a letter from Gemara Ram arrived at Kumahari ka Teeba on May 27, pleading for forgiveness, and asking that he be brought home.
“I am in Landhi Jail in Pakistan and in good health and I pray to God that you are well too,” he began, in the letter handwritten in Hindi, in blue link, with the words “Jay Shri Ganeshaya Namaha” scribbled on the piece of paper.
Unaware of the demise of his father, Gemara Ram then wrote, “First of all, I want to apologise to everyone. How are ‘mummypapa’? I want to apologise to them too. I made a big mistake, but only realized this once I had made it.”
In the letter, Ram asked that his identification papers be sent to the “Delhi High Commissioner” so that attempts to free him can be made. There was also one last beseeching request.
“I have written many letters in the past, but have received no response. Please respond to this letter, and write back on a piece of paper. Don’t worry about me, but please forgive me,” he wrote.
On April 6, 2022, the BSF wote to the Pakistani rangers requesting them to release Gemara Ram. ML Garg, DIG, BSF told HT that they asked for his release on humanitarian grounds. Two weeks later , on April 20, the Pakistani authorities sent a reply that stated Ram was not a minor and had violated international law, and therefore had to face legal consequences.
Garg said, “We are making all possible efforts so that Ram can be released. We have even requested the Pakistani authorities to arrange a commandant level meeting so this can be discussed.” Conversations between the two border forces at the ground level, particularly on people that may have crossed the border, are not unusual, officials said.
Former Barmer MP and chairman of the Sainik Welfare Board, Manvendra Singh, who has taken up the issue said, “I have provided the required documents to the officials of the ministry of external affairs of India as well as to the external affairs ministry of Pakistan. I have been assured that he will be released soon.”
Union Minister of state for Agriculture and the member of Parliament from Barmer, Kailash Choudhary, said, “I am constantly pursuing the matter with the external affairs ministry. There is a long list of formalities between two countries which is taking time. I am hopeful he will be back soon.”
Back at the village, Satram now desperately wants his younger brother to return. Time and separation has healed any anger that existed. Besides, there is now growing worry for their mother, who is waiting for her son. “Even her hopes are now dying. We try to console her, but it doesn’t matter. All she asks, is if he is back. Her health is deteriorating with each passing day, and the only thing that will fix her, is seeing Gemara Ram back home.” .