when nations go to war ordinary families pay the price every time a beloved husband son brother or father comes home in a body bag when two nations remain in a constant state of war it is everyman who pays the price of appearing to be the enemythis weeks special report chronicles exactly that it might almost be a remake of mehreen jabbars 2008 film ramchand pakistani which told the story of a lowcaste hindu man and his son ramchand who accidentally cross into india from pakistan and end up spending five years in a prison meanwhile ramchands mother is left wondering what happened to them one week is a long time in politics five years can be an eternity for a family parted it knows not how or why it falls apart the film shows ramchand and his father as guilty by suspicion because they came from enemy countryas all the reports on this page illustrate there are many ramchands on both sides of the border prisons in india and pakistan are teeming with unfortunate illegal aliens pakistani and indian whose only crime is to have entered the neighbouring country by mistake or overstayed their visa in the subcontinents colonial neoofficialese its called violation of the foreigners act and passport act the geneva convention which both the countries have signed requires humane treatment of civilians in the subcontinent this convention is followed selectively when citizens from any country other than india or pakistan violate the visa law on either side of the border they are fined or deported but if an indian is caught in pakistan or vice versa it is ramchand pakistani every timenow as the indian and pakistani foreign secretaries meet in the run up to home minister p chidambarams visit to islamabad is there hopepunjabhe is 16 and a victim of the politics of hate between two countries salim has spent two years in a home for juvenile criminals its a small house with three dingy airless rooms salim shares a small room with 33 others aged between 12 and 18 as the mercury rises and electricity supply trips the threeroom house becomes stiflingly hot there is no clean drinking water to be had as the indian and pakistani foreign secretaries meet in the run up to home minister p chidambarams visit to islamabad salim is fervent about peace at any cost i can only pray to god for improvement in india and pakistans relations only then i will be able to get out of this place he saysit shouldnt have come to this the son of a farmer in bahawalpur salim crossed the border by mistake at hussainiwala in may 2008 he didnt have a passport or a valid visa arrested by the bsf the boy then 14 was sent to the juvenile home ever since life has been hellish for an adolescent who is regarded an enemy agent by the other inmates often salim gets into fights with those who make