Faridkot, October 29
While the district administration has sent a proposal to the state government for sending Asif, a 13-year-old Pakistani boy languishing in Juvenile Jail here, to a destitute home, he only wants to return to his home in Pakistan and does not want to be sent anywhere else.
Speaking to The Tribune here today, Asif said he had high hopes from Nasir Ali, who was released on August 30 and had taken along with him his (Asif’s)
photograph saying he would help him in his identification. Though disappointed, he was still awaiting a response from him.
Asif, who strayed into the Indian side of the border in Mamdot sector in Ferozepore last year, was brought to the Juvenile Jail on May 12, 2003. While six Pakistani boys were released from the jail in the recent past, Asif’s case made no headway, as he could neither recall his home address nor the name of his native place. The only thing Asif remembers is the name of his parents. He said that his father’s name was Majid and mother’s Jeena. Both of
them worked at a brick-kiln. He also had two sisters and three brothers.
A clue that the Juvenile Jail authorities have about his address is that he belongs to Kasur district, as mentioned in his papers prepared at the time of his arrest.
While another Pakistani boy, Altaf, has got his identification done paving the way for his return to Pakistan, the delay in responding to the district administration’s proposal has put the latter in a fix in Asif’s case.
With the Punjab Government withdrawing criminal cases, trespassing without a valid passport and immigration papers, against all Pakistani boys, keeping Asif in Juvenile Jail for long will not be fair.
Sources said the administration may be toying with the idea of sending him to a destitute home, but he was not a fit case for it as per the adoption laws.
They said people preferred children below six years for adoption and considering the fact that his identity as a Pakistani national was known aspiring parents would hesitate in adopting him. They further said that there could be an arrangement under which he should be sent to a destitute home, but not made available for adoption. Special Care Home in Hoshiarpur may be one such place.
