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Send me back to B’desh, says Pak boy in Bhopal shelter home
Fifteen-year-old Pakistani boy Ramzan, who is lodged in a Madhya Pradesh shelter home, now wants to go to back to Bangladesh, as he fears Pathankot fallout may stall his repatriation to Pakistan.
Fifteen-year-old Pakistani boy Ramzan, who is lodged in a Madhya Pradesh shelter home, now wants to go to back to Bangladesh, as he fears Pathankot fallout may stall his repatriation to Pakistan.
In response to his request, an official of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) said, “Now with Pakistan, we are also trying to explore his way (back) to Bangladesh.”
Ramzan’s father had taken him to Bangladesh from Pakistan five years ago. The boy had crossed into India two years ago to reach his mother in Pakistan.
However, he was caught and sent to Ummeed Shelter home in Bhopal. His hopes to meet his mother in Pakistan rose after a strong assurance by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and a Pakistan High Commission official who met him in November last year on different days.
Ramzan said he wanted to be with his mother as soon as possible as she was upset after his maternal grandmother suffered a brain stroke in Karachi.
But, the wait is getting longer now, he said, adding, “If it is not possible to send me to Pakistan, I want to go back to Bangladesh where I can live with ‘Fuppi’ (paternal aunt) and other relatives and then try to go back to Pakistan from there.”
In fact, Arambh has already requested the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) through a letter on January 16 that the boy be repatriated to Bangladesh if Pakistan course didn’t materialise soon.
Some CWC officials said that a Delhi-based NGO had volunteered to facilitate his repatriation to Bangladesh provided the boy was officially in their custody.
Aarambh director Archana Sahay said, “Ramzan was losing hope by the day. We are doing his counselling to keep him normal.”
Pakistani Human rights activist Ansar Burney said, “I am trying my best to push his case.”
