<p>Earrings and several pieces of jewellery besides Rs 10,000 in cash were missing after their luggage was opened by the officials before they embarked on the Lahore-Delhi bus last Monday, the family complained.<br /><br />The family was also forced to part with a bottle of sunscreen lotion. But their travails did not end after crossing the border with Indian immigration officials questioning them for over an hour.<br /><br />Giving a first-hand account of her ordeal, Lamat R Hasan, wife of PTI's Islamabad correspondent Rezaul H Laskar, said, "I was excited about crossing the Indo-Pak border using the land route for the first time until I stepped into the immigration office at Attari at about 8 am on May 17."<br /><br />At Attari, an officer on seeing her passport curtly told her that she is not allowed to use the land route to cross the border.<br /><br />To use the land route, Indian journalists are required to have a mention of the point of entry in their visas or else they have to take special permission from officials concerned.<br />"I had always flown to Pakistan and this was the first time that I was using the land route. I told the officer that my visa does not entitle me to cross the Wagah border on foot, but I am permitted to take the bus," Lamat said.<br /><br />She said she was not allowed to use the telephone by the officials who claimed it was not functioning.<br /><br />When she told them that she would like to inform the PTI office that she was stuck at the border, the officer said, "Don't impress me with your press credentials."<br /><br />Lamat said she was also not allowed to meet her parents-in-law and sister-in-law, who were accompanying her.<br /><br />According to her, she was asked all types of questions -- "when did you go to Pakistan"; "when was your last visit to India?"; "what do you do in Pakistan?"; "what does your husband do there?"; "why did you decide to board the bus and not fly..." and "how many Pakistanis do you know?"<br /><br />Lamat was allowed to go back to the lounge only after she gave the Indian High Commissioner's number as her reference in Islamabad.<br /><br />"I sat in the lounge for another 30 minutes before I was allowed to cross the border in the bus."<br /><br />But that was not it, said Lamat. An officer handed a sheet of paper asking her to write that she is innocent. She faced more questions when she refused. <br /><br /></p>
<p>Earrings and several pieces of jewellery besides Rs 10,000 in cash were missing after their luggage was opened by the officials before they embarked on the Lahore-Delhi bus last Monday, the family complained.<br /><br />The family was also forced to part with a bottle of sunscreen lotion. But their travails did not end after crossing the border with Indian immigration officials questioning them for over an hour.<br /><br />Giving a first-hand account of her ordeal, Lamat R Hasan, wife of PTI's Islamabad correspondent Rezaul H Laskar, said, "I was excited about crossing the Indo-Pak border using the land route for the first time until I stepped into the immigration office at Attari at about 8 am on May 17."<br /><br />At Attari, an officer on seeing her passport curtly told her that she is not allowed to use the land route to cross the border.<br /><br />To use the land route, Indian journalists are required to have a mention of the point of entry in their visas or else they have to take special permission from officials concerned.<br />"I had always flown to Pakistan and this was the first time that I was using the land route. I told the officer that my visa does not entitle me to cross the Wagah border on foot, but I am permitted to take the bus," Lamat said.<br /><br />She said she was not allowed to use the telephone by the officials who claimed it was not functioning.<br /><br />When she told them that she would like to inform the PTI office that she was stuck at the border, the officer said, "Don't impress me with your press credentials."<br /><br />Lamat said she was also not allowed to meet her parents-in-law and sister-in-law, who were accompanying her.<br /><br />According to her, she was asked all types of questions -- "when did you go to Pakistan"; "when was your last visit to India?"; "what do you do in Pakistan?"; "what does your husband do there?"; "why did you decide to board the bus and not fly..." and "how many Pakistanis do you know?"<br /><br />Lamat was allowed to go back to the lounge only after she gave the Indian High Commissioner's number as her reference in Islamabad.<br /><br />"I sat in the lounge for another 30 minutes before I was allowed to cross the border in the bus."<br /><br />But that was not it, said Lamat. An officer handed a sheet of paper asking her to write that she is innocent. She faced more questions when she refused. <br /><br /></p>