Pak forces said they would treat her like their daughter... and they did

[mr42O]

On March 29, just like any other day, seven-year-old Pooja Meghwal and her elder brother took the cattle for grazing. But instead of waiting for her brother, Pooja decided to return home alone, after collecting some firewood. However, she only made it home after three days, having strayed across the border, where some Pakistani Rangers looked after her, gave her a new salwar suit, slippers and a hamper of sweets, chocolates and chips.

"The weight of the firewood on my head made me lose direction. I kept walking till I reached a BSF checkpost. I asked the people there for some water. I then set out for home again, though the route did not look familiar," says Pooja at her home in 43 KYD village in Khajuwala, 150 kms from Bikaner.

"I somehow managed to squeeze through the barbed wire on the border. Each time, I first removed my slippers and slipped these through first. I have lost my slippers several times and my mother had warned me that if I lose these, I will not get a new pair," she recalls.

Lost and alone, she fell asleep crying on the first night. When she woke up the next morning, she found three Pakistani security personnel staring at her. "They took me to a room, and an aunty came and stayed with me. At first, I was really scared and cried. She hit me on the head and told me I would be kept there forever if I did not stop crying," says Pooja.

"So I stopped crying, and was very happy when they gave me a new salwar suit and slippers. They also gave me roti and subzi, and some toffees, biscuits, chips and sweets. I had a lot to eat," she adds.

Meanwhile, her family members approached the BSF for help. "Several flag meetings were held between BSF and the Pakistani Rangers. For three days, there was no clear word on whether they had the girl or not. All they said was that if they found her, they would treat her as their daughter. And of course, they did treat her very well," said Ravinder Kaswan, sarpanch of this border village.

Late on April 1, the villagers came to know that the Pakistani Rangers had handed over Pooja to the BSF.

Since her return, the Pakistani Rangers have reportedly been asking the BSF personnel to get Pooja to the border so they could meet her again. While her family members are grateful to the Pakistani forces, the BSF personnel have warned them to be on guard.

The BSF personnel don't want Pooja to wear the salwar suit gifted by the Pakistani side. They have summoned her father at least thrice, asking him if she gets nightmares of being "tortured".

But Pooja, like any seven-year-old, is happy with her new salwar suit and slippers, munching on the sweets and chips that she got from across the border.

 

[Safriz]

Cute...........

 

[Aslan]

BSF and their paranoia, if the story is true of them asking the girl to not wear the suit. Well then again a pigeon did end up in jail for spying.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

they did no favor, they just were professional and did the right thing

and i'm glad this young one has been re-united with her family...glad she liked her new outfit and the junk food

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

All i can say to BSF is "Get well soon"..

 

[ShahidT]

What a beautiful child. And the way our Rangers treated her was exemplary, really restored my lost faith in humanity around these parts.

Just compare how tranquil and peaceful the Punjab/Sindh border is with our other borders. okay with afghanistan you can understand that its currently occupied and in state of war, but what is it with our Iran border? they often shoot our people on this side, randomly start mortar fire from their territory into ours killing several innocent people. yet that is our 'Bradar Islami mulq'. to be honest the internationally accepted, non-disputed border with our 'eternal enemies' is much preferred to our 'brothers' that lob shells and fire shots at our villagers in the west and northwest.

 

[Srinivas]

Good gesture from across the border

 

[Kaniska]

This act is appreciable for Pakistan Border Force...Thanks for such a nice act...

 

[EzioAltaïr]

On March 29, just like any other day, seven-year-old Pooja Meghwal and her elder brother took the cattle for grazing. But instead of waiting for her brother, Pooja decided to return home alone, after collecting some firewood. However, she only made it home after three days, having strayed across the border, where some Pakistani Rangers looked after her, gave her a new salwar suit, slippers and a hamper of sweets, chocolates and chips.

"The weight of the firewood on my head made me lose direction. I kept walking till I reached a BSF checkpost. I asked the people there for some water. I then set out for home again, though the route did not look familiar," says Pooja at her home in 43 KYD village in Khajuwala, 150 kms from Bikaner.

"I somehow managed to squeeze through the barbed wire on the border. Each time, I first removed my slippers and slipped these through first. I have lost my slippers several times and my mother had warned me that if I lose these, I will not get a new pair," she recalls.

Lost and alone, she fell asleep crying on the first night. When she woke up the next morning, she found three Pakistani security personnel staring at her. "They took me to a room, and an aunty came and stayed with me. At first, I was really scared and cried. She hit me on the head and told me I would be kept there forever if I did not stop crying," says Pooja.

"So I stopped crying, and was very happy when they gave me a new salwar suit and slippers. They also gave me roti and subzi, and some toffees, biscuits, chips and sweets. I had a lot to eat," she adds.

Meanwhile, her family members approached the BSF for help. "Several flag meetings were held between BSF and the Pakistani Rangers. For three days, there was no clear word on whether they had the girl or not. All they said was that if they found her, they would treat her as their daughter. And of course, they did treat her very well," said Ravinder Kaswan, sarpanch of this border village.

Late on April 1, the villagers came to know that the Pakistani Rangers had handed over Pooja to the BSF.

Since her return, the Pakistani Rangers have reportedly been asking the BSF personnel to get Pooja to the border so they could meet her again. While her family members are grateful to the Pakistani forces, the BSF personnel have warned them to be on guard.

The BSF personnel don't want Pooja to wear the salwar suit gifted by the Pakistani side. They have summoned her father at least thrice, asking him if she gets nightmares of being "tortured".

But Pooja, like any seven-year-old, is happy with her new salwar suit and slippers, munching on the sweets and chips that she got from across the border.

Seriously, it was a good gesture from Pakistani Rangers, but this report is going too far. I never realized the BSF allowed media to sit in the room where they are talking with a person.

 

[Sugarcane]

The BSF personnel don't want Pooja to wear the salwar suit gifted by the Pakistani side. They have summoned her father at least thrice, asking him if she gets nightmares of being "tortured".

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/strate...ke-their-daughter-they-did.html#ixzz2Pu9LCehL

She is cute, BTW - Kindly provide source as well

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

What a beautiful child. And the way our Rangers treated her was exemplary, really restored my lost faith in humanity around these parts.

Just compare how tranquil and peaceful the Punjab/Sindh border is with our other borders. okay with afghanistan you can understand that its currently occupied and in state of war, but what is it with our Iran border? they often shoot our people on this side, randomly start mortar fire from their territory into ours killing several innocent people. yet that is our 'Bradar Islami mulq'. to be honest the internationally accepted, non-disputed border with our 'eternal enemies' is much preferred to our 'brothers' that lob shells and fire shots at our villagers in the west and northwest.

i sympathize with your post, even though it overlooks cross-border firings even on the side you call "tranquil"

our border with Iran has different issues; those of bandits, smuggling and other irritant groups....it's been fairly quiet recently as far as cross-border armed encounters are concerned

but again - point well taken


IDEALLY - all countries in the region would be at peace with eachother and elements of mistrust and misapprehension would be tackled in a civilized and effective manner rather than rhetoric and tit-for-tat action


there is however still room for faith in humanity.....even soldiers trained to kill people can be decent and humble human beings with a heart

 

[xTra]

suits for girl are common in India, why would BSF object.

Good gesture Pakistani Rangers.

 

[ShahidT]

i sympathize with your post, even though it overlooks cross-border firings even on the side you call "tranquil"

our border with Iran has different issues; those of bandits, smuggling and other irritant groups....it's been fairly quiet recently as far as cross-border armed encounters are concerned

but again - point well taken


IDEALLY - all countries in the region would be at peace with eachother and elements of mistrust and misapprehension would be tackled in a civilized and effective manner rather than rhetoric and tit-for-tat action

well, we've never fired back at them or killed civilians on that side of the border. i'm sure smuggling happens both ways, surely their and our border forces could have effective cooperation to counter smuggling rackets, at least to the level that we have with BSF. but rather they totally disregarded our protests and requests in the past, just to follow their own agenda of indiscriminate firing. it seems something political to me, does Iran govt simply not value our words or trust us? or is it simply lack of coordination, bad blood and misunderstandings on ground between border officials of both sides?

 

[neehar]

nice but i think the last part where bsf bothers about the new dress of the girl is abit over stated and might be an added masala to the story for the local audience..but anyways these are small things today for big things tomorrow..they must continue to happen
India repatriates two Pakistani teenage boys - Times Of India

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

well, we've never fired back at them or killed civilians on that side of the border. i'm sure smuggling happens both ways, surely their and our border forces could have effective cooperation to counter smuggling rackets, at least to the level that we have with BSF. but rather they totally disregarded our protests and requests in the past, just to follow their own agenda of indiscriminate firing. it seems something political to me, does Iran govt simply not value our words or trust us? or is it simply lack of coordination, bad blood and misunderstandings on ground between border officials of both sides?

Iranian paranoia since the "free world" has an agenda against them and supports groups like Jundollah -- which have been an irritant for both Pakistan and Iran in the past; and of course other misunderstandings too.

You cant really blame them; though Pakistan did take action when the Iranians got too bold or audacious or trigger happy.

We detained members of their border guards twice - in 2009 and 2012 -when they mistakenly did incursion into Pakistani Balochistan.

On coordination ---as is the case with indian border, we have a direct hotline with our Iranian counterparts on our southwestern border. There are proper ways to handle cross-border incidents or misunderstandings.