Pak repatriates Nagaon’s Wahida, her son to India

New Delhi, May 30: Pakistan on Wednesday repatriated five Indian prisoners, including Assam’s Wahida Begum and her 11-year-old son Faiz Khan, who were detained at Quetta Jail for over a year.“Yes, both mother and son have been handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah border. Three other Indian prisoners were also handed over to the authorities in India,” said advocate Santosh Kumar Suman, who filed a writ (habeas corpus) in the Supreme Court against Begum’s detention and demanded her release.Talking to The Assam Tribune, Suman said that following her medical checkup, both the mother and son duo will be produced in the Supreme Court. “As it’s a habeas corpus case, they need to appear before the court,” he said.Habeas corpus is normally used to release a person who has been unlawfully detained or imprisoned. The writ is a recourse in law by which a report can be made to a court in the event of unlawful detention or imprisonment, requesting that the court order the person’s custodian to bring the prisoner to court to determine whether their detention is lawful.Following the Supreme Court’s direction, Suman and Wahida’s family provided a copy of the writ petition to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs, leading to the start of negotiations between India and Pakistan for their repatriation.Suman said that a letter was sent by Pakistan’s Interior Ministry confirming that Islamabad has decided to repatriate Wahida along with other Indian prisoners on May 29 through the Wagah border in Punjab.Both the mother and son, who are originally from Nagaon in Assam, were lodged in Quetta Jail in Pakistan in November 2022. However, it is not clear as to how they reached Quetta, located near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, without any passports or visas.Following her disappearance in November 2022 from Nagaon, Wahida’s family members filed a complaint at the Nagaon police station, but there was no result, which compelled the family members to approach Delhi.Along with Wahida and Faiz Khan, three other Indian prisoners—Suraj Pal and Ramesh, who were detained in Lahore Jail, and Shabir Ahmed Dar, who was lodged at Malir Jail in Karachi—have been handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah border.