Surjeet Singh finally home amid celebrations

FEROZEPUR: Fiddae village in Ferozepur district burst into celebrations as Surjeet Singh arrived home to be with his family and friends after 31 years in jail in Pakistan.

His relatives, friends and villagers remained busy all through the day to prepare for celebrations upon his arrival.

Surjeet was brought to Fiddae from Talwandi Chowk in Ferozepur in an open vehicle with hoards of people standing on both sides for a glimpse of the man who had defied a death sentence in Pakistan and returned home safely.

"We're distributing sweets, cracking fires, dancing on beats of dhols and also having a peg or two to celebrate Surjeet's return," said a local resident Sarabjit Singh while talking to TOI.

Upon reaching home, Surjeet said he was thankful to his wife Harbans Kaur for raising the children in his absence.

"I can understand how she would have managed to bring them up alone, but she did and I am thankful to her," he said.

Surjeet Singh, who served a life term in Pakistan following his arrest on charges of spying in the 1980s, was freed from a Lahore prison and sent to the Wagah border crossing to be repatriated.

Singh, 69, was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail on Thursday morning, a senior official of the prison department of Punjab province said.

Policemen escorted Singh as he was taken to the Wagah land border crossing in a van to be handed over to Indian authorities.

Awais Sheikh, the counsel for Singh, told the media on Wednesday that the Indian national was arrested by Pakistani police on charges of spying during the regime of military ruler Zia-ul-Haq.

Surjeet Singh was given the death sentence under the Pakistan Army Act in 1985.

The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1989 by then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

Sources said Singh had held meetings with other prisoners in Kot Lakhpat Jail on Wednesday to bid them farewell.

He requested the authorities to serve him 'sewai' to celebrate his impending release.

Hours after reports emerged on Tuesday that Pakistan was to free Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, the presidential spokesman clarified that authorities had actually ordered the release of Surjeet Singh.