LAHORE: All passengers of Samjhota Express returned to the Lahore railway station on Thursday after having remained stranded at Wagah for about seven hours as Indian authorities refused to allow the train to cross over to Attari.

Ironically, no official of Pakistan Railways (PR) was present at the station’s platform No 9 when the train arrived at around 5pm with 136 Indian and 57 Pakistani passengers.

The Indian Railways had asked its Pakistani counterpart through a fax message at about 7.30am to cancel the train’s operation in the wake of violent protests by farmers in Indian Punjab.

“By the time the message reached PR Lahore division authorities, the train had left the railway station,” a source in the PR headquarters said.

The train reached Wagah railway station at about 8.45am and all the passengers started unpacking their luggage for customs clearance. But when the immigration and customs process did not start even after an hour, the passengers got worried.

“Initially, no one informed us about the Indian refusal. After an hour or so the passengers with Pakistani passports were asked to leave the train along with their luggage as the Indian authorities seemed ready to accept their nationals only. The announcement was repeated at least four times,” said Umer, who was going to India for the first time.

Mahmood Ahmad, a resident of Karachi, threw a polythene bag containing medicines belonging to his wheelchair- ridden wife. “Insulin and other medicines became unusable because of high temperature in the train,” he said.

Haji Qayyum Baig of Ferozabad (India) has no acquaintance in Lahore. “I have relatives in Hyderabad and Karachi, but don’t have their contact numbers. We don’t have enough money to even have meals till Monday morning when Samjhota Express may again take us to India,” he said.

Three Indian citizens – Rafiullah from Muradabad, Nauman from Meerut, and Kashif from Baghpat – were worried as their visas were to expire on Thursday (Oct 8). However, PR police DSP Amir Hussain Shah put them at ease when he said that under such circumstances, railways and immigration authorities write down the reason on visa papers.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson said the PR authorities tried their best to persuade their Indian counterparts to let the train run according to schedule.

“All passengers will be accommodated in Samjhota Express which is scheduled to leave Lahore station on Monday morning. “We have made arrangements for the passengers’ stay at the Green Lounge waiting room at platform No 2,” the spokesperson said.

The Samjhota Express resumed its weekly operation on Jan 15, 2004, after a break of two years. The train started running between Lahore and Atari on Mondays and Thursdays from Nov 28, 2006.

The frequency of the train operation was increased because of a rise in the number of passengers after a five-year agreement signed between Pakistan and Indian railway authorities in the third week of Dec 2003. Under the pact, both countries were to provide train rake for six months each. For the first six months, the PR offered the rake after Indian authorities refused to provide the coaches first despite their turn.

Pakistan had exhausted its turn when the rail link was severed on Dec 31, 2001, as India cut off all its air, road and rail links with Pakistan after an attack on its parliament, which New Delhi blamed on ‘Pakistan-based’ militants.

The Indian Railways had in the first week of Aug 2008 handed over the rake of Samjhota Express to the Pakistan Railways when the train started running according to a new schedule between Atari and Lahore on Mondays and Thursdays.

The Pakistan Rangers had been tasked with the train’s security from Lahore to Wagah railway stations and vice versa after two crude incendiary bombs exploded inside the security-sealed train coming from Delhi to the border post of Attari early on Feb 18, 2007. The fire caused by the blasts claimed the lives of at least 68 passengers, including an unknown number of Pakistanis. About 13 people were injured.

After the tragedy, Pakistan Railways decided that the number of passengers would not be more than the seating capacity. Samjhota Express has a seating capacity of 576 passengers and the railway authorities introduced a reservation system on March 4, 2007, stopping issuing tickets in excess of the seating capacity.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2015

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