Activists seek to reunite Indian girl with family

[Spring Onion]

Indian delegation to arrive in Karachi shortly to meet Geeta

Published: August 4, 2015
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KARACHI: Indian High Commissioner Dr TCA Raghavan, his wife and a delegation of senior officials will arrive in Karachi on Tuesday to meet Geeta, an Indian girl stranded in Pakistan for the past 13 years.

“The Indian delegation will arrive in Karachi on Tuesday evening and will visit the Edhi Foundation in Mithadar, where the girl resides,” a source told The Express Tribune.

A spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation further confirmed that the meeting would be held between the girl and the delegation later this evening.

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also took to social media to announce the visit during which Raghavan will meet Geeta.

Read: Stranded abroad: India springs into action to reunite Geeta with family

Two days after The Express Tribune broke the story of a hearing- and speech-impaired Indian girl stranded in a Pakistani shelter, the Indian government sprang into action to reunite her with her family.

On Monday, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad approached the Foreign Office to seek access to Geeta. “High Commissioner TCA Raghavan, his wife and some senior officials are planning to travel to Karachi Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning to meet Geeta,” said Balbir Singh, an official of the Indian mission. “We want to travel to Karachi Tuesday but if this is not possible, then we will meet Geeta on Wednesday.”

Read: Activists seek to reunite Indian girl with family

Earlier on Monday, Swaraj asked Raghavan to visit Geeta. “I have asked Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr TCA Raghavan to go to Karachi with Mrs Raghavan and meet this girl,” Swaraj said in response to a tweet from Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney,

Geeta, now 23, is believed to have mistakenly crossed into Pakistani territory as a child. Her story bears striking resemblance to that of Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Geeta can neither speak nor hear, but she can recognise India on the map and points to the states of Jharkhand and then at Telangana. After the story of Geeta’s ordeal went viral, journalists and rights crusaders from both sides of the border are campaigning to reunite Geeta with her family. Geeta’s story bears striking resemblance with that of Bollywood heartthrob Salman Khan’s flick Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The success of the movie has provided impetus to efforts to trace the family of Geeta. Activist Ansar Burney, who had raised the issue three years ago during a visit to India, is now spearheading an active Facebook campaign for her.

Read: Indian embassy approaches FO, seeking access to stranded girl

Faisal Edhi said some Indians have approached him to offer help to read Geeta’s writings.

At the same time, Faisal has been contacting people in Jharkhand and Telangana to find out the whereabouts of the girl’s family. “The day is not far when Geeta will be reunited with her family,” he hoped.

Indian delegation to arrive in Karachi shortly to meet Geeta - The Express Tribune

 

[ghazi52]

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Will 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' help this girl stranded in Pakistan?

For the past 13 years, Geeta has been living in Pakistan, but she refuses to call it her home. — Photo credit: Abbas B Yaser - Scroll.in
For the past 13 years, Geeta has been living in Pakistan, but she refuses to call it her home.

Clad in a regular shalwar kameez, this Indian girl, who can neither hear nor speak, does not look any different from the other girls staying at the Edhi Shelter Home in Karachi’s old city area of Sharafa Bazar. But for the past few days, she is carrying the swagger of a celebrity as the local media is flocking the shelter home to follow up on her story after the release of Salman Khan Starrer Bajrangi Bhaijan in Pakistan.

"She wants people to find her family in India," said Faisal Edhi, the head of Edhi Foundation. "She explains the address of her hometown to anybody who visits her, hoping that the more she explains, the better her chances of returning to her family."

Geeta was found wandering near the India border in Lahore in 2002 and was taken by soldiers of Pakistan Rangers. She was barely an 11-year-old child back then, they handed her over to the Lahore branch of Edhi Foundation — Pakistan’s largest social welfare organisation, founded by Faisal’s father Abdul Sattar Edhi. Later, she was shifted to Karachi.

Her story
Faisal has not watched the movie yet, but after hearing the story line from friends and journalists, he thought Geeta deserved some credit for the script. "It could only be her story," he said.

Geeta gets treated like a special inmate at the shelter. She has a private temple, her favorite space in the building – a spick and span room with posters of Hindu gods: Lord Krishna, Lord Rama and Sita, goddess Durga, Shiva and Parvati and a small statue of Lord Ganesha resting on a table, alongside with earthen lamps and incense. She likes to keep the doors of the temple locked and doesn't let other children enter the room.

Faisal’s mother Bilquees Edhi, who practically raised Geeta and gave her the name she is known by, insists that she should find a Hindu man of her choice and "settle down."

But Geeta won’t listen. "I want to fly back to India," Geeta gesticulates with her hands. "Only then will I dress up as a bride, with my father’s blessings."

Bilquees Edhi thinks of herself as Geeta's guardian. "Here in Pakistan, she is an amaanat of her parents with us," meaning that she is keeping her in trust for her parents as a custodian. "She wants to go back because she misses them. And we want her wish to come true. But it has been more than 10 years. She is 23 years old now. I don’t know how much more she has to wait."

When the media persons come to visit her, Geeta is all prepared. She greets them with a smile and leads them to her favourite room, unlocks the doors of the temple and eagerly shows them the sheafs of papers she has scribbled on, with what looks like Hindi letters.

Faisal said he took Geeta's writings to people fluent in Hindi, but they could not make any sense out of her scribbles. "Maybe she is writing in a regional language; or they are just words she learnt to copy as a child. We don’t know."

Faisal said that Geeta had also shared a phone number with the international Indian code, but it was short by a few digits. She claimed that she has four sisters and lost her way when she visited a religious melaa (fair) near the border with her father. "To be honest, everything we know about Geeta is what we gathered from her wordless 'explanations.' But this is all we know.”

Second time lucky?
This is the second time Geeta has come under media spotlight. Back in 2012, when her story broke in the Aman Ki Asha’s Pakistan pages, several national and international media outlets carried the story. "But as such things work, after a few months everybody forgot her," Faisal said.

The story received a lot of coverage and even came to the notice of officials from Indian embassy who paid Geeta a visit. "We were really excited," Faisal said. "We thought finally we would be able to locate her parents." But nothing happened.

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[Capt.Popeye]

Salutations to the Edhi Foundation for stepping up and looking after the girl. Abdul Sattar Edhi and people like him are god's greatest gift to all humanity.

 

[Hindustani78]

India's envoy meets stranded Indian woman in Pakistan | Zee News
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 - 22:54

New Delhi/Islamabad: The Indian envoy in Pakistan on Tuesday met a hearing and speech-impaired Indian woman who has been stranded in the neighbouring country for the past 15 years.

Leading Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney thanked Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghavan for the meeting.

Burney tweeted: "Dear Dr TCA Raghavan thanks for coming to Karachi and to meet Geeta alias Guddy @SushmaSwaraj @MEAIndia."

In the morning, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted: "Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan Dr. TCA Raghavan is reaching Karachi and will meet Geeta today."

On Monday, the minister said she asked Raghavan to pursue the case of Geeta, who in 2003 -- then 11 years old -- was spotted by the Pakistan Rangers in Lahore after she strayed across the border.

In a post on Twitter on Monday, Sushma Swaraj said: "I have asked Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr TCA Raghavan to go to Karachi with Mrs Raghavan and meet this girl."

The girl was handed over to the Edhi Foundation, a social welfare organisation in Pakistan.

Burney also called upon Bollywood star Salman Khan to help in locating the woman's parents in India and replicate his "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" role in real life.

"We must not leave any stone unturned to make Geeta realise there are sympathisers in India too, who are making efforts to help her reach home," he said.

The director of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", Kabir Khan, in an e-mail to Burney said he would try to help in whatever way he can.

Burney had travelled to India in October 2012 with photographs of the woman but was unable to make progress. Bilquis Edhi, who runs the Edhi Foundation, has named her Geeta.

In a tweet, Burney on Monday said "Geeta alias Guddy may be from Jharkhand or Telangana in India. Geeta remember no 193 and says she has seven brothers & four sisters."

IANS

We will bring Geeta back to India from Pakistan, says Sushma Swaraj | Zee News
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 - 23:06

New Delhi/Karachi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday night said that India will bring back Geeta, a deaf and mute Indian girl stuck in Pakistan for more than a decade, after Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghavan along with his wife met the girl in Karachi.

"Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan Mr Raghavan and Mrs Raghavan met Geeta in Karachi today. Our High Commissioner believes that Geeta is an Indian. We will bring Geeta back to India," Swaraj tweeted.

She also noted that the process of bringing back Geeta to India will require some formalities which will be completed.

"We are grateful to all individuals and institutions in Pakistan who looked after Geeta," she added.

Earlier, Raghavan and his wife today met Geeta and assured her to locate her family as soon as possible.

Swaraj had directed the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to meet with the girl and resolve the issue.

"The purpose of my visit to this centre is to find out all details about Geeta's case and background and try to locate her family and relatives as soon as possible," Raghavan told reporters at the Edhi trust shelter home in Karachi.

"The fact that I have come here is itself a message of peace from our government," he said after meeting Geeta.

Geeta, 23, is believed to have mistakenly crossed into Pakistani territory as a child. She was 7-8 years old when she was found by the Pakistan Rangers 15 years ago from Lahore railway station, according to reports from Pakistan.

Raghavan later stayed at the Edhi shelter home in the old city area of Mithadar and spent time with Geeta, who conversed with him and his wife using sign language.

Geeta has got a fresh lease of hope mainly due to the runaway success of the Salman Khan-starrer 'Bhajrangi Bhaijan'.

Salman's movie revolves around a speech-impaired girl from Pakistan who finds herself lost in India with no way to return her home. An Indian man undertakes the task and reunites her with her family in Pakistan.

PTI

 

[ghazi52]

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Humanity over politics

Envoy will travel to Karachi to meet the hearing- and speech-impaired girl.

The story of the Indian girl, Geeta, who has been stranded in Pakistan for the past 13 years, is a heartrending one. She is believed to have mistakenly crossed into Pakistan as an 11-year-old and has been here ever since. Geeta is speech and hearing impaired and when she accidentally crossed over to Pakistan’s side of Punjab, Rangers personnel handed her over to the Edhi Foundation, which has looked after her ever since. Being unable to speak or hear has made Geeta’s reunion with her family a difficult prospect and for years, the Edhi Foundation has been making efforts to trace her family and hometown, but with little success.Geeta’s story first came to the fore in the media in 2012 and a delegation from the Indian High Commission visited her. However, nothing of consequence happened in the aftermath of the visit and the issue was soon forgotten. Now, once again, it seems that there are efforts afoot to trace her family, with the Indian high commissioner having paid a visit to Geeta, and we hope that this time she is returned to her family.

Unfortunately, for both Pakistan and India, Geeta’s story is not an isolated one. In fact, her circumstances are way better than those countless people, both adults and children, who have been languishing in jails for years, for accidentally crossing the border. In January this year, a Pakistani teenage boy was released after serving four years in an Indian jail on a charge of illegally crossing the border. Fishermen are also routinely kept in detentions for years for crossing the invisible borders at sea — a practice that is illogical and inhumane, yet it continues unimpeded. This August marks 68 years to Partition. In all these years, countless people have suffered because of hostilities between India and Pakistan. It’s time the two countries formed a joint commission tasked with tracing those who accidentally cross borders and help them return to their families. When it comes to solving problems of ordinary Indians and Pakistanis, bureaucratic mindsets shouldn’t be allowed to become obstacles.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6th, 2015.

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[Hindustani78]

Pakistan prepares for Geeta's return to India | Zee News

Islamabad: Preparations are underway in Pakistan for Indian national Geeta`s return, a 23-year-old who has been stuck in the country for over a decade, after accidentally crossing over when she was a child.

"There are preparations for Geeta`s return to India," said Pakistan`s Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Syed Qazi Khalilullah.

Khalilullah also commented on the fishermen issue between India and Pakistan, saying: "India has released some 88 fishermen recently including a fisherman named Junejo who hails from Thatta."

"Unfortunately, his 8-year-old son, Ghulam Hussain, was detained by India on the pretext that Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has not submitted his identity documents," he added.

ANI

 

[Hindustani78]

Last Updated: Saturday, August 8, 2015 - 14:33
Process on to bring back Indian woman from Pakistan: Sushma Swaraj | Zee News

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday that India is completing the necessary formalities to bring back Gita, a hearing and speech-impaired Indian woman stranded in Karachi, to India.

"We are completing the necessary formalities to bring Gita back to India," she tweeted.

Sushma also tweeted that during the past few days "four families from Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand and UP have claimed Gita as their daughter" and that she has requested the chief ministers of the respective states to "verify and report".

"Gita conveyed to Indian High Commissioner by gestures that they are seven brothers and sisters. She also conveyed that she had visited a temple with her father. Then she wrote down `Vaishno Devi`. With these details, please help locate Gita`s family," the minister tweeted.

On Tuesday, Sushma had announced that the government will bring Gita back to India after Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghavan met Gita at the Edhi Foundation in Karachi where the young woman has been staying for the past 15 years after she accidentally strayed into Pakistani territory.

Sushma had requested the envoy to go to Karachi to meet Gita.

Leading Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney, who has been closely pursuing Gita`s case, had travelled to India in October 2012 with photographs of the woman but was unable to make progress.

In 2003, Gita -- then 11-years old -- was spotted by the Pakistan Rangers in Lahore, after she strayed across the border.

The girl was handed over to the Edhi Foundation, a social welfare organisation in Pakistan.

Bilquis Edhi, who runs the Edhi Foundation, has named her Gita.

According to reports, Gita is a vegetarian and has set up a small "mandir" in her room at the Edhi Foundation where she prays to Indian gods and goddesses. She also observes the Ramadan fast.

IANS

 

[Hindustani78]

Geeta is our daughter Rani: Khammam couple - The Siasat Daily
August 11, 2015
We lost our daughter Rani in a festival in Guntur way back in 2006 and we recognise Geeta is our lost daughter claim a couple from Narsapur village of Khammam.

The Couple strengthen their claims by saying even Rani used to have a small mole on her forehead, squint in the eye and warts on her hands.

The couple are farmer and are willing to undergo DNA test and confidently says their daughter would surely recognize them.

However, The actual facts doesn’t match with the Khammam Couple’s claim. Geeta was first noticed by Pakistani rangers in the year 2003. Whereas, The couple says they lost their daughter in 2006.

The movie ‘Bajranji Bhaijaan’ which brought the tale of Geeta to limelight, One Family each from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharhand and Punjab came forward to claim Geeta is their daughter. Ministry for External Affairs is busy finding out the blood relation of Geeta in India.

 

[Hindustani78]

Sushma Swaraj asks Akhilesh Yadav to send pics of Geeta's family | Zee News
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - 01:22

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to send her the pictures of the family which claims to be the kin of Geeta, a deaf and mute Indian woman who has been stuck in Pakistan for more than a decade.

"I have spoken to Chief Minister UP @yadavakhilesh ji to send me pictures of Pratapgarh family that claims Geeta as their daughter," Swaraj tweeted.

"We will send those pictures to Pakistan for identification by Geeta," she said.

A few days back, a couple from a village in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district had claimed that the deaf and mute Indian girl stuck in Pakistan for about 14 years is their daughter.

According to Anara Devi and her husband Ramraj Gautam of Thammohan village under Maheshganj police station here, the girl, addressed as Geeta in Pakistan, is their daughter Savita who went missing since 2004.

PTI

 

[Hindustani78]

Indian social worker seeks custody of Geeta who is stuck in Pakistan for more than a decade | Zee News

Karachi: An Indian social worker has filed a petition in a court here to seek the custody of Geeta, a deaf and mute Indian girl stuck in Pakistan for more than a decade.


The petition was filed by Momineen Malik with the district and sessions court (south) which summoned Abdul Sattar Edhi, the chairman of Edhi Foundation -- a charity which is taking care of her, others as respondents in the application.

Court judge Ahmed Saba issued notices to the respondents with direction to appear in court along with Geeta on Monday.

Malik is the petitioner in the case and will be represented by a local lawyer.

Geeta, 23, is believed to have mistakenly crossed into Pakistani territory as a child.

Malik, who is also a lawyer, has moved an application under Section 552 (power to compel restoration of abducted females) of the criminal procedure code and asked the court for the custody of the woman in order to hand her over to her parents in India who are yet to be located in India despite the Indian government efforts.

Section 552 states that if a complaint is made to a sessions judge on oath about the abduction or unlawful detention of a woman, or of a female child under the age of 16 years, for any unlawful purpose, he may order the woman or girl to take a decision out of her own free will to be reunited with her husband, parent, guardian or other person having the lawful charge of such child, and may compel compliance with such order, using such force as may be necessary.

Geeta was found sitting alone and disorientated on Samjhauta Express in Lahore and police believed that she had come from India after crossing the Wagah border through the train.

She was later shifted to the Edhi home in Mithadar Karachi after the authorities failed to locate her family and relatives as she can't speak or hear.

Geeta's story came into the limelight after Salman Khan-starrer Bollywood hit Bajrangi Bhaijaan mirrored a similar story about a Pakistani girl lost in India and brought back to Pakistan by Khan.

Geeta's plight also attracted the attention of the Indian government which vowed to bring her back.

Indian high commissioner TCA Raghavan and his wife had visited the Edhi home and met Geeta last month after her story was aired in the Pakistani media.

PTI

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

She seems to have disabilities and could have been left near the border by her own relatives/friends. Usually people consider children with disabilities as a burden.

We lost our daughter Rani in a festival in Guntur way back in 2006 and we recognise Geeta is our lost daughter claim a couple from Narsapur village of Khammam.

How did she ended up 1000 KM away on Pakistan border ?

 

[Hindustani78]

Geeta's case to be settled through diplomatic channels: Pakistan court | Zee News

Islamabad: A Pakistani court disposed of an application of an Indian lawyer seeking custody of a deaf and mute woman and observed that diplomatic channels should be used since the matter involved two countries.


Geeta (Guddi), now 21, has been brought up at Edhi Home where she has been residing for the past 13 years.

She was found sitting alone on Samjhauta Express in Lahore and was believed to have come from India after crossing the Wagah border by train, Dawn online reported.

The court disposed of as not being maintainable the application filed by Momin Malik, the Indian lawyer, under Section 552 (power to compel restoration of abducted females) of the criminal procedure code.

The applicant named the Edhi Foundation as respondents and asked the court to call for a report about the confinement of Geeta.

The lawyer also sought permission to obtain her handwriting and blood samples in order to ascertain whether she was an Indian national and identify her family, as five Indian families have claimed her as their family member.

The applicant approached the Indian high commission in Islamabad, but the diplomatic move was delayed for one or another reasons.

The applicant`s counsel, Khawaja Mohammad Azeem, argued that the application may be allowed in the interest of justice since there was no alternative remedy available to approach Geeta.

Sessions judge Ahmed Saba said the applicant was required to submit an application through proper channel with the Indian high commission.

The court ruled that proper procedure and diplomatic channels were to be adopted since the matter involved the two countries and it was to be resolved with mutual consent.

It was the specific domain of the Indian government to ascertain the nationality of the woman at the first instance, the court order concluded.

PTI

 

[Hindustani78]

Pakistan cooperating with India for 'deaf and dumb' Geeta's return | Zee News
Last Updated: Friday, September 25, 2015 - 10:34

Islamabad: We are "fully cooperating" with the Indian High Commission for the return of an Indian girl, who entered the Pakistani territory 13 years ago by mistake, Pakistan`s foreign office has said.

No condition has been set for Geeta to report to the foreign ministry for obtaining permission to travel back to her birthplace, Dawn online reported the foreign office statement as saying on Thursday.

It was the responsibility of India to prepare travel documents for the girl, the statement said.

Geeta, now 21, was found by Pakistan rangers 13 years ago, sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express in Lahore that had come across the Wagah border.

She was taken to the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan`s largest charity, in whose care she has remained ever since.

It was earlier reported that a sessions court in Karachi had dismissed an Indian lawyer`s application seeking custody of the deaf and mute Geeta and observed that diplomatic channels be used since the matter involved two countries.

Indian High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan had last month visited Geeta at Edhi and brought her good tidings from India along with several gifts.

Raghavan said he personally wanted to meet the girl to gain as much knowledge about her as possible.

IANS

 

[Hindustani78]

`Bajrangi Bhaijaan` Geeta's family traced in Bihar, set to return home from Pakistan | Zee News
Last Updated: Thursday, October 15, 2015 - 13:33

Islamabad/New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday announced that the Indian government has traced the parents of Geeta, an Indian girl who entered the Pakistani territory 13 years ago by mistake.

The deaf and mute Geeta will return to India from Pakistan, tweeted Swaraj.

Geeta will be back in India soon. We have located her family. She will be handed over to them only after the DNA test.#Geeta

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 15, 2015

Meanwhile, Edhi spokesperson Anwar Kazmi told The Express Tribune: “Geeta successfully identified her sister and four brothers through a photograph sent to Faisal Edhi by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.” The family reportedly lives in Bihar.


Notably, the story of Geeta became more famous as it was similar with the one depicted in Salman Khan blockbuster "Bajrangi Bhaijaan".

Geeta, now 21, was found by the Pakistan Rangers 13 years ago, sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express in Lahore that had come across the Wagah border.

She was taken to the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan's largest charity, in whose care she has remained ever since.

 

[Hindustani78]

Indian national Geeta prays at charitable Edhi Foundation in Karachi, Pakistan. Geeta, who accidently crossed the border into Pakistan as a child nearly 12 years ago will return home soon, an Indian official said Thursday.