After 36 years, Jaipur man to walk free from Pak jail

Jaipur:

When Gajendra Sharma left home in 1982, he was 40 and the father of two sons. When he returns home to Jaipur after spending 36 years in a Pakistan jail, he will meet his six grandchildren and the rest of his extended family.


The labourer from Jaipur was traced to Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore in May 2018, and will be released on August 13. Sharma’s family was informed about his release on Thursday by junior minister for external affairs V K Singh. Sharma’s wife Makhani Devi and younger son Mukesh met Singh in Delhi on Thursday. “We were told that my father would be released from jail on August 13. There are some formalities to

be completed but we are praying he will back home or in the country to celebrate Independence Day,” said Mukesh.

Makhani Devi said, “He left home without informing us. It was tough. I worked as a peon in a private hospital to raise my children.” When Sharma went missing, Mukesh was 12 and his older brother Rajesh was

16. “We will have to fill in the details of the past 36 years. He will get to meet our wives and children.” The family is planning a ‘goth’ or mass feast once he reaches Jaipur.

Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra said, “We learnt he was jailed in Pakistan from news reports in Punjab but we’re not sure why he was imprisoned. The family approached me. I went to the foreign ministry and wrote to them about Gajendra. He was initially jailed for two months, but as he could not get consular access, he had to spend 36 years there.”