Jubilant family members, villagers, a perturbed father-in-law and an opportunistic political aspirant were part of the reception at Mundali as Sapper Mohammed Arif returned after five years in a Pakistani prison.The entire village turned out in the slush from a shower, singing and dancing to welcome the soldier.In battle fatigues on a black horse, escorted by packed trucks, Arif allowed the crowd to carry him to a dais in the village madarsa with. Mohammed Sadik, a village elder, stood outside the madarsa, brandishing a baseball bat to ward off trouble-makers. ‘‘Arif is a big man now,’’ says Sadik. ‘‘He will need protection.’’Captured in 1999 during the Kargil war, along with Lance Naik Jagsir Singh, Arif says he can only wait to be called back to duty. After being debriefed for over a month, Arif is careful with his words. ‘‘As long as I wear this uniform, I will reveal no information about my time in Pakistan. That is only for the Army to hear and for the Army to decide who to tell.’’The sapper is quite exhausted after two hours of shaking hands and patting from villagers. ‘‘I cannot reveal anything about my time in Pakistan. I can tell you I was not tortured, but anything I say has to be cleared by the Army. Please understand.I made no friends in Pakistan.’’Amid the cheering, Arif’s father-in-law, Imamuddin, keeps to himself, calling the homecoming nothing short of a dharam sankat (moral dilemma). His daughter, Gudiya, was married off to another man nine months ago after the family thought Arif must be dead. ‘‘Dharam ke hisab se yeh sabse badi samasya hai (In terms of morality, this is the biggest predicament),’’ he says, clutching at his head. ‘‘I asked his parents if I could get Gudiya married to someone else, and they agreed. the terrible thing is that there is nobody to blame.’’ Gudiya, now married to a computer operator, is with child, says Imamuddin. ‘‘Who will ever be able to know Gudiya’s mind?’’ adds his friend, Iqbal Ahmed, a retired Army man.At another corner, a Lok Sabha aspirant from Malook Nagar, Shahid Akhlakh rattles off promises — a new house, compensation, a letter to the PM for an out-of-turn promotion in the Army, a grand wedding. This, as Akhlakh points out the local MP, who beat him up in the last elections, has not turned up. The promises seem to bounce off a weary Arif.For now, Arif’s house is the only one in the village with a fresh coat of paint. Hordes of children on the roof seem like they could bring it down. ‘‘It’s okay,” says Arif’s friend, Kamal. ‘‘It is after a long time. We in the village have all been brave on his behalf. It has been very difficult not to give in. Many of us did. Many of us did not.’’
