M A I N   N E W S

Pak runaway boy sent home
S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 21
This morning was a sad moment for Sunil, another Pakistani teenager, as he and other inmates of the juvenile home here were not allowed to come out to say goodbye to Nasir Sultan when he was released and taken to Wagah for being handed over to the Pakistan authorities.

Nasir, who was lodged in the juvenile home for a little over three months after he crossed the border at Hussainiwala in Ferozepur in the hope of having an interaction with the superstar Shah Rukh Khan, said “it is unbelievable that I am so soon returning to my native land”. “I am very happy that human rights organisations paved the way for my return to Pakistan.”

He was given a VIP treatment as senior officers garlanded him and presented him sweets to carry home. Additional deputy commissioner Mohan Lal was present there to ensure that the event passed off smoothly.

Nasir said his return had come on the auspicious Friday and he would offer Namaz when he touched the Pakistani soil.

His stay in the Ferozepur police station and later in the juvenile home was “trouble-free” except for missing his parents and three brothers, he said. The officers were polite to him and he got the affection of the lower staff.

Talking about his unfulfilled dream of meeting Shah Rukh Khan, Nazir said it was “foolish” of him to have crossed the border without valid documents. “I will now prepare for my Class X examination scheduled in March,” he said. He was a student of Government High School at Chukiatan in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.

A large number of social activists and human rights activists turned up at the juvenile home in the morning as a police team from Ferozepur led by sub-inspector Roop Singh reached here to take possession of the boy and drive him to Wagah in Amritsar for being handed over to the Pakistani Rangers.

There was anxiety among the other inmates to see Nasir returning home, but the district authorities did not let them have a glimpse of what was happening on the other side.

Decks for the release of Nasir were cleared when the union home ministry asked the Punjab government to drop the case of illegal entry against him and complete necessary formalities for his repatriation.

Nasir said he talked to his uncle on the telephone in Pakistan. He informed him that his parents Sultan Zarin and Rahat Biwi and three brothers Yasir, Salman and Rohil were eagerly waiting for his return.

He was grateful to Ranjan Lakhanpal, a senior lawyer, who filed a PIL for his release in the high court.

Meanwhile, Sunil, a school dropout belonging to Pakistan, who is also lodged in the juvenile home, was impatiently waiting for the day when he, too, would be allowed to return to his homeland.

‘I’ll come back on valid visa’
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

Attari, November 21
Nasir Sultan (15) today said he would come again to India to fulfil his dream of meeting Shah Rukh Khan, but on a valid visa.

After his release this morning, Nasir was handed over to Pakistani Rangers at the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post. Looking relieved, the Pakistni boy thanked the Government of India for ensuring his release before his Class X examinations. Nasir was detained under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act.

He hoped that he would get through the examinations though he underwent a traumatic period due to his misadventure. He rued that his jail mate Sunil, who had landed in the juvenile home, Faridkot, much before him could not be released so far.

Overwhelmed by the love and affection showered on him by Indians, Nasir said he would love to meet them again on visiting India on a valid visa.

The union home ministry had issued the orders for his release yesterday.