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Burney comes looking for a family of hearing imapired Indian girl
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 13
Pakistan human rights activist Ansar Burney today arrived in India in search of the family of a 21-year-old Indian girl who strayed into Pakistan around 13 years ago. The girl cannot speak or hear.

Talking to mediapersons at Attari, he said, “Geeta, alias Guddi, was found at the Lahore railway station. Barely able to write in Hindi, the girl told us in sign language that her father had moustache and that there was a water body and a temple near her house. Being looked after by the Ansar Burney Trust, the girl is now desperate to meet her parents. We fear she may run away. That’s why we are here looking for her parents.” He said she prayed every morning and evening in a temple set up by the trust.

Bringing back Geeta, however, won’t be easy. Pakistan would not give her passport as she was not a Pakistani citizen, while India would seek proof of her Indian citizenship. Burney said he had taken it up with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, providing them with her photographs and relevant documents.

About Geeta’s identity, he said her being an Indian was clear from the fact that she can write in Hindi and even Sanskrit. The trust may upload the text written by her on social networking site Facebook to help them reach her parents.

It was possible, Burney said, that Geeta’s parents had knowingly deserted her and would now hesitate to take her back. “In any case, I would like to tell them if they have any problem in taking her back, they should meet her once. In case her parents fail to take her back, we will do. This would neutralise her pent-up emotions; she screams and cries these days.” Burney offered to bear all her expenses till her marriage in case her parents came forward to accept her.

POW’s family seeks help

Family members of Ram Das, a 1971 prisoner of war, met Burney and urged him to help them in securing his release. Ram Das’s son Shiv Kumar said his father was in the artillery division of the Army. He claimed he was currently lodged in the Kot Lakhpat Jail of Lahore. Burney assured them all help, saying he would also be keen to help the relatives of the Indians imprisoned in Oman.