Misled by news reports, Sarabjit’s village rejoices

June 27, 2012

Amritsar, June 27: Misled by reports of the imminent release of Sarabjit Singh from jail in Pakistan, his village on the border erupted in joy on Tuesday. His family called it a “relieving” moment and an act of kindness from President Asif Ali Zardari.

Surjeet Singh (left) who has been languishing in a Pakistani jail for 30 years. At right is Sarabjit Singh... hopes dashed. The Presidency clarified late on Tuesday night that it was not Sarabjit but the much older Surjeet Singh whom Pakistan had decided to release. File photo

Emotional scenes were witnessed at the house of the 49-year-old Sarabjit in Bikhiwind, where hundreds of villagers gathered after the so-called news of commutation of his death sentence into life imprisonment by Mr. Zardari broke out. People thronged their house with sweets and good wishes.

“It is relieving news for me from Pakistan, which did a lot for Indians and every Indian will always remember this act of kindness of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari,” said Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur, her eyes turning moist.

Ms. Kaur said she expected the release of her brother in a couple of days and his crossing over to India through the land transit route of Attari/Wagah border.

Sarabjit’s two daughters Swapandeep Kaur and Poonam couldn’t control their emotions and broke down.

His wife Sukhpreet said: “...for me it is a kind of new birth since my two daughters will get their father back from the Pakistan prison where there was no hope of repatriation to India.”

In Islamabad, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar later clarified that the person concerned was not Sarabjit Singh but Surjeet Singh, son of Sucha Singh. His death sentence was commuted in 1989 by then President, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day, Benazir Bhutto.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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