A young love-sick Pakistan armyman has turned his back on his country and family for keeping him away from his lady love and has sought refuge in India.
Arif Ali, 20, deserted his unit after his Pakistan Occupied Kashmir-based family refused him permission to marry his girlfriend, army sources said.
Following a scuffle with his father, an angry Ali marched across the LoC in Kerni Gali area of the border district of Poonch Wednesday evening and was arrested by Indian troops.
“I wanted to marry a Hyderabad (in Sindh province) girl but my parents and locals were against it,” he reportedly said during his questioning. “I couldn’t act against the locals, so decided to desert and cross over.”
Ali’s and Rezwana’s is a high-school romance. A native of Sindh, Rezwana was sent to her uncle in POK for schooling. Ali was a student at a neighbouring boys’ school. Love bloomed and so did trouble.
Residents of POK mostly speak Urdu and Pahari and a small section Kashmiri. Culturally, they don't have much in common with Sindhis — Ali’s family’s grouse.
In June, he visited Rezwana in Hyderabad and returned to his 25 Frontier Force unit, deployed along the LoC, early this month.
“I was confident the Indian Army will not kill me and give me shelter.”
In June, he visited Rezwana in Hyderabad and returned to his 25 Frontier Force unit, deployed along the LoC, early this month.
“I was confident the Indian Army will not kill me and give me shelter.”
But that’s unlikely. He would be handed over to the Pakistan army on July 13, sources said.