Geeta, an Indian girl who spent the last 15 years of her life in Pakistan after she got separated from her parents, finally arrived in New Delhi on Monday morning from Karachi to a warm welcome in India.
However, the long-awaited homecoming of the hearing and speech impaired girl did not have a happy ending, as in a dramatic turn of events Geeta aka Fatima, failed to identify Janardan Mahato from Bihar as her father. Geeta had earlier recognised Mahato as her father from an old photograph sent by the Indian Government to Pakistan.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials said that one possible reason could be that the faces of family members have changed over the years and she was sent an old photograph for identification. Nevertheless, in order to establish Geeta’s parentage doctors from AIIMS took her blood samples and that of Mahato for DNA testing. In case samples do not match, Geeta will stay in a special home in Indore. “And search for her parents will continue,” said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday.
“It is a happy day for us. After several years, our innocent Geeta has finally returned home,” Swaraj said in an emotional tone as a much-elated Geeta sat next to her. She was escorted by the Edhi family that took care of her for nearly 15 years after she accidentally crossed over to Pakistan.
Geeta’s return has generated a lot of goodwill. While the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi expressed the hope that India would release 459 Pakistani prisoners with the same “love and affection” as Geeta was returned, Swaraj said India and Pakistan should have a proactive approach in such cases. “Both jails have prisoners who are mentally challenged and the priority should be to send them back first. We (India-Pakistan) are working on that,” Swaraj said.
Before that, Swaraj has another task at hand and that is to bring back 24-year-old Aligarh boy Salman from Karachi. His mother left him with his maternal grandparents in Pakistan.
With his grandmother now dead, Salman longs for his mother’s love and wants to come back home to his family.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, Geeta was accorded a warm reception by Indians as well as Pakistani Embassy officials. She was introduced to the Mahato family from Bihar whose photograph she had identified as that of her parents. However, in a dramatic turn of events, Geeta failed to identify the Mahato family on Monday.
MEA officials said that the possible reason for this could be that the faces of the family members have changed over the years as she was sent an old photograph for identification. Nevertheless, doctors from AIIMS took her blood samples and that of the Mahatos for DNA testing. In case the samples do not match, she will stay in a special home in Indore. “However, the search for her parents will continue,” Swaraj said.
In fact, if the DNA matches, Swaraj said, it will create a complex situation as the Mahato family has claimed that Geeta was married at a young age and had a child, while Geeta was hardly ten when she crossed over to Pakistan in Samjhauta Express.
Welcoming Geeta, Swaraj said India’s daughter is back home. She also thanked the Pakistani Government and the Edhi family that took care of her and allowed her to remain a Hindu all these years during her stay in Pakistan.
“I do not have words to express my gratitude to the Edhi family who not only gave Geeta love and affection but also protected her religious rights. In fact, they did not even change her food habits,” said Swaraj while thanking Bilquis Bano Edhi, wife of philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, and other family members who run the Edhi Foundation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a financial support of Rs one crore to the Edhi Foundation to help them carry on their activities.
Happy to be back among her own people, Geeta’s face wore a smile constantly even while she was in media glare. From a grand farewell in Karachi to a heart-warming welcome at New Delhi’s IGI Airport, 24-year-old Geeta had her moment of glory throughout the day after she stepped out of the Pakistan Airlines flight at around 10.30 am.
Bilquis Bano said she has never seen Geeta so happy in the last several years the girl has been with them. “She used to fight and try to run away as if she could find her way back to India on her own. However, she is a changed person from the time we told her that she will be back home soon and today I am seeing her so happy for the first time,” Bano said.
“My heart has always been in India. I am very happy to be back home,” Geeta expressed in sign language. According to Bilquis Bano, when Geeta was brought to her Foundation in lahore she was restless and agitated all the time.
“When I met her she could not tell me her name so, I named her Fatima. She wanted to leave the Children’s Home and used to fight and run away. Finally, I brought her to my own house in Karachi and she started living with my family. There I realized that she had habits different from other Pakistani girls. She used to touch feet and fold hands. Disliked non-vegetarian food and loved vegetarian items. But the most important thing was that she asked for a bell that is used to perform pooja in India. This made me realize that she is an Indian and a Hindu. And the first name that came from my mouth was Geeta so we named her that”, Bano narrated. In fact, during one of her trips to Mumbai, Bano got pictures of Indian deities for Geeta to pray to. Now she just wishes the Indian girl all the best in her new life.