India's son Kulbhushan Jadhav may still be incarcerated in a Pakistani jail, but the government on Thursday celebrated the ghar wapsi of a daughter, Uzma Ahmed, from Pakistan. Almost a year ago, Geeta, a deaf mute girl who had somehow found her way into Pakistan, was brought back with similar fanfare.
Earlier in the day, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) had released a picture of Uzma at the Wagah border. The picture, as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at a briefing, "told more than a thousand words". It showed Uzma bending to touch Indian land with her right hand. "That gesture of yours has moved the entire country," the minister told an emotional Uzma.
Uzma touching Indian soil at Wagah border | MEA
Uzma's story has all the elements of a Bollywood potboiler, including the "good men" in a hostile nation. The Old Delhi resident was in Malaysia where she befriended a man called Tahir, who was from Pakistan. He asked her to accompany him for a holiday, said Uzma. "I was given sleeping pills and I have no idea how we crossed the border. When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange place, surrounded by strange people who spoke a strange language.''
Uzma was in Buner, a remote location in Pakistan, which, in 2008, was declared Taliban territory. She was tortured physically and emotionally. Her captors even threatened to harm her three year old daughter in India. Uzma was forced to sign a nikahnama. "Buner is a horrible place. Tahir kept pistols. All men there have guns. You hear gunshots in the backdrop all the time. There are many other women like me who are trapped there. Not all are Indians, some may be Filipinos.''
Uzma said that few resided in Buner permanently. People went in search of employment to southeast Asia and hoodwinked women back to the hellhole.
Pulling all her wits together, she somehow convinced Tahir to accompany her to the Indian high commission in Islamabad, where she rapped at the window and cried, "I am an Indian."
The high commission found itself in a spot. High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale was in New Delhi, attending the heads of mission meet. Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh mulled over the consequences of giving her refuge. "But when I realised it was a matter of life and death, the decision was easy," he said.
Dressed in a yellow salwar kameez and green dupatta, Uzma complemented Sushma Swaraj's Thursday dressing. (The minister chooses colours according to the day of the week, and Thursday means yellow). Uzma thanked Swaraj profusely. "She used to call me up everyday to reassure me. She said even if it takes two years, they would get me out of Pakistan. Till then, I could stay in the high commission. That was when I felt that my life means something to someone. As an orphan, I had never felt more cherished."
Uzma's picture of Pakistan would send shudders down anybody's spine. "It is a horrible place. There is no freedom. Even the men are not safe, let alone women. Each man has more than one wife.''
It was ironic that at the very moment Uzma rapped at the high commission's window, the MEA, at the heads of mission meeting, had decided on a slogan: Pardes me aapka dost, Bharatiya dootavas (Your friend abroad, the Indian embassy).
Swaraj thanked the Pakistan government and judiciary for helping Uzma's return. "The home and foreign ministries extended every help. Our lawyer, Shahnawaz, fought the case so well. When Tahir told the court that the prestige of Pakistan was involved, Justice Kayani asked him how India-Pakistan came into this matter?''
The press meet ended as if on script. Uzma's daughter ran up the dias. The mother and daughter dissolved into kisses even as Uzma's brother, uncle and aunt looked on. "Today, this little child asked me for her mother. I was so happy to reunite them,'' said Sushma.