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Activists seek to reunite Indian girl with family

Geeta: Govt. may invoke Section 13 to grant citizenship to Geeta - The Hindu

The government has dug out a rarely applied clause in the Indian Citizenship Act to make way for granting Indian national status to Geeta, the hearing and speech impaired girl stuck in Pakistan since 2003.

A senior government official told The Hindu that since there were no documents on Geeta to prove that she was an Indian citizen, they would apply Section 13 of the Indian citizenship Act to facilitate her stay in India.

Section 13 of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, says that, “the Central government, may, in such cases as it thinks fit, certify that a person, with respect to whose citizenship of India a doubt exists, is a citizen of India; and a certificate issued under this section shall, unless it is proved that it was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact, be conclusive evidence that person was such a citizen on the date thereof, but without prejudice to any evidence that he was such a citizen at an earlier date.”

The Home Ministry will use this clause to grant “certificate of citizenship in case of doubt” to Geeta when she arrives in India on October 26.

On her part, Geeta, after her arrival, would be required to fill a detailed form that will facilitate her citizenship process. In absence of valid documents, Geeta would be treated as an “illegal migrant”, according to the Act.

A high-level meeting was convened at South Block on Friday to decide the citizenship status of Geeta.

“A lot of debate ensued on Geeta’s citizenship status and we decided that for anyone to enter India, one needs to have supporting travel documents like a passport. Since Geeta’s case is an exception and the High Commissioner in Pakistan has sent his report confirming that Geeta is an Indian citizen, we decided to provide her Indian citizenship as per Section 13,” said a senior government official.
 
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  • Geeta arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Photo: Prashant Nakwe
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    Geeta (C) with members of Edhi Foundation in New Delhi. Photo: Twitter/@MEAIndia

Geeta, who had crossed over to Pakistan, arrives in Delhi - The Hindu

Geeta, who had crossed over to Pakistan over 10 years ago, arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Monday. Geeta will undergo a DNA test and will be allowed to be adopted only after results confirm her ties with the family from Bihar. The MEA has also selected two organisations, working with special people, which can host Geeta in case the DNA test fails to prove the same.

The event is also being seen as a moment of "feel good" diplomacy between the two countries. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is expected to address the media in the afternoon.

Following the press conference, the High Commissioner of Pakistan will felicitate members of the Edhi Foundation and Geeta on the High Commission premises. A Pakistani diplomatic source has told The Hindu that the return of Geeta represents Pakistan’s commitment to allow people-to-people contact.

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Geeta (L), seen with Bilquis Edhi, after arriving at the Delhi airport. Photo: Prashant Nakwe

Govt. may invoke Section 13 to grant citizenship

A senior government official had told The Hindu that since there were no documents on Geeta to prove that she was an Indian citizen, they would apply Section 13 of the Indian citizenship Act to facilitate her stay in India.

Section 13 of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, says that, “the Central government, may, in such cases as it thinks fit, certify that a person, with respect to whose citizenship of India a doubt exists, is a citizen of India; and a certificate issued under this section shall, unless it is proved that it was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact, be conclusive evidence that person was such a citizen on the date thereof, but without prejudice to any evidence that he was such a citizen at an earlier date.”
 
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Reuters / Sunday, October 25, 2015
Geeta holds her palms together as she looks out of a van while leaving for an airport to depart for New Delhi, outside the Edhi Foundation in Karachi, Pakistan, October 26, 2015. Geeta, a deaf-mute Hindu woman now in her early 20s, was around 11 years old when she inadvertently crossed the border from India to Pakistan, and lost her family. Since stumbling into Pakistan, Geeta has lived in a home for lost and abandoned children
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Ms. Geeta, a differently-abled Indian woman who accidentally crossed over to Pakistan, a decade ago, meeting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi after her return to India, in New Delhi on October 26, 2015.
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Ms. Geeta along with the officials from Edhi Foundation, meeting the President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on October 27, 2015.
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Ms. Geeta along with the officials from Edhi Foundation, meeting the President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on October 27, 2015.
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President's Secretariat
27-October, 2015 14:43 IST
Ms. Geeta calls on President

Ms. Geeta, the young speech and hearing impaired woman who returned to India after being stranded in Pakistan for over a decade called on the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (October 27, 2015) along with officials of Edhi Foundation, Pakistan. The President blessed Geeta and said, ‘You are the daughter of both our country, a symbol of India-Pakistan unity. God has listened to your prayers’. He also complimented and thanked Ms. Bilqis Bano Edhi and Edhi Foundation for the good work they were doing.

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Ministry of External Affairs
01-October, 2017 20:46 IST
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Appeals To People to Extend Their Help in Finding the Parents of Geeta Who Had Returned To India from Pakistan

The External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj has appealed to people to extend their help in finding the parents of Geeta, a deaf and mute girl, who had returned to India from Pakistan.

Smt. Sushma Swaraj in her appeal televised today said that whosoever helps in finding the parents of Geeta, he or she will be rewarded with one lakh rupees. She said in her recorded video on ANI released on Twitter @ani and @DDNewsLive that people especially in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand must come forward to provide information about the Parents of Geeta alias Guddi if they know of someone who lost their girl child some ten or twelve years ago and could be Geeta’s parents.

She added that probably Geeta belongs to either Bihar or Jharkhand as she has indicated through sign language.

In her message, EAM Smt. Sushma Swaraj also thanked Edhi Foundation of Pakistan for their support in caring for Geeta while she was in Pakistan.

Smt. Sushma has also appealed to the media and the people at large to spread this message to the maximum people so that Geeta is able to meet her parents soon.
 
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Ministry of External Affairs
01-October, 2017 20:46 IST
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Appeals To People to Extend Their Help in Finding the Parents of Geeta Who Had Returned To India from Pakistan

The External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj has appealed to people to extend their help in finding the parents of Geeta, a deaf and mute girl, who had returned to India from Pakistan.

Smt. Sushma Swaraj in her appeal televised today said that whosoever helps in finding the parents of Geeta, he or she will be rewarded with one lakh rupees. She said in her recorded video on ANI released on Twitter @ani and @DDNewsLive that people especially in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand must come forward to provide information about the Parents of Geeta alias Guddi if they know of someone who lost their girl child some ten or twelve years ago and could be Geeta’s parents.

She added that probably Geeta belongs to either Bihar or Jharkhand as she has indicated through sign language.

In her message, EAM Smt. Sushma Swaraj also thanked Edhi Foundation of Pakistan for their support in caring for Geeta while she was in Pakistan.

Smt. Sushma has also appealed to the media and the people at large to spread this message to the maximum people so that Geeta is able to meet her parents soon.

Its been 2 years they still havnt found her parents. So i presume those 5 families that were trying to claim her were fake
 
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Its been 2 years they still havnt found her parents. So i presume those 5 families that were trying to claim her were fake
No, they have lost their baby in similar condition. DNA testing proved she is not their child.
 
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Thats sad. I hope they find her family soon. Where is she staying now?
I assume she is still in Pakistan. She gave her samples, and there is a lot of testing that needs to be done.

Who knows what happens to her parents. Inshaallah she meet's with them.
 
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I assume she is still in Pakistan. She gave her samples, and there is a lot of testing that needs to be done.

Who knows what happens to her parents. Inshaallah she meet's with them.

I read that back in 2015 she went to India. She even meet Modi and Salman Khan. So why would she go back to Pakistan
 
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I read that back in 2015 she went to India. She even meet Modi and Salman Khan. So why would she go back to Pakistan
She was still protected by the group in Pakistan. I think, since India has yet to find the family, they requested her custodian. Or she wanted to stay there.
 
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She was still protected by the group in Pakistan. I think, since India has yet to find the family, they requested her custodian. Or she wanted to stay there.

I think if she is not reunited with her family by this year than she should listen to Bilquis Edhi and find a nice boy to start her own family.
 
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