After hours of waiting, finally Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman returned home on Friday night from his nearly three-day captivity in Pakistan.
He was captured by Pakistanis on February 27 after his MiG-21 crashed in the Pakistan-occupied territory. Later, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in his country’s parliament that the Wing Commander is being released as a “goodwill gesture.”
Hoping to give a hero’s welcome to Wing Commander, thousands of Indians gathered on the border carrying the tricolour and garlands. However, he emerged at 9.10 pm(IST) at the Wagah check-post on the Pakistani side.
It was a moment of joy for the entire nation as he stepped on the Indian soil almost after 60 hours. The BCCI posted a special message for the IAF pilot on their official Twitter handle with his name engraved on a Team India jersey.
“#WelcomeHomeAbhinandan You rule the skies and you rule our hearts. Your courage and dignity will inspire generations to come #TeamIndia,” the BCCI tweeted.
https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1101511525267697664
The Indian cricket fraternity took to Twitter to express their happiness, here are some tweets
https://twitter.com/VVSLaxman281/status/1101513853240836097
https://twitter.com/anilkumble1074/status/1101512297611091970
https://twitter.com/sachin_rt/status/1101510399512403969
https://twitter.com/imVkohli/status/1101518352843849729
https://twitter.com/bhogleharsha/status/1101511645702979584
https://twitter.com/virendersehwag/status/1101437935793176577
https://twitter.com/GautamGambhir/status/1101472807836442624
https://twitter.com/ImRo45/status/1101536933862203392