Pakistan authorities repatriated on Monday 29 December, 2014, a 12-year-old girl who lives in Indian-administered Kashmir, three days after she strayed into Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from across what’s termed the Line of Control (LoC).
This was Nasreen Bibi, a resident of Shoran village of the Uri area, who had inadvertently crossed the LoC and reached the Darra Haji Pir sector of AJK’s Haveli district on December 26.
She was seen there and questioned by Pakistani troops.
Thus, as it happily turned out, the girl was handed over to the Indian authorities at the Chakothi-Uri crossing point, after officials from the two sides held a flag meeting at Kaman Bridge – this marks the divide in the disputed Himalayan region.
“I am so happy that I am reuniting with my family,” she said while responding to questions by reporters taken there to cover the event.
She was all praise for the cordiality of people and officials in AJK. “Everyone was so kind…They took care of me like their own daughter. They gave me new clothes as well,” she said.
Pakistani officials presented her with gifts.
On the Indian-administered side, a physician examined Nasreen Bibi before she was allowed to leave with her mother Saeeda Bibi, who had been waiting for her at the crossing point.
Earlier, on November 19, Pakistani officials had repatriated a 13-year-old boy under simialr circumstances, at the Chakothi-Uri crossing point.
Manzar Hussain, an eighth-grade student from Jhanagar village in Indian-administered Kashmir, had mistakenly crossed the LoC into the southern Kotli district on November 14.
These incidents just go to show that far from the diplomatic circles and ego-blighted top rank military die-hard’s actions, left to locals, unfortunate situations can be resolved not only peacefully, but with added kudos for kindness and understanding by all concerned.
Original news releases on Dawn and at: http://www.southasianmedia.net/stories/south-asia/girl-sent-back-to-indian-administered-kashmir-story
