Pak mother hopeful of son's return from India

Karachi: The mother of a 15-year-old Pakistani boy stuck in India since 2011 is hopeful that she will be reunited with him after receiving intimation that the Indian government has reopened the case.

Razia Begum who resides in a small shanty neighbourhood near Orangi town in Karachi told PTI that Ansar Burney of the Ansar Burney welfare trust had informed her that the Indian government had reopened the case and it would eventually allow her son Muhammad Ramazan to return to her.

Burney who is pleading the case for Ramazan said that he had mailed the related documents to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad including passports of Ramazan's grandparents which confirmed he was Razia Begum's son.

"Apparently the Indian authorities had considered him to be a closed case as he didn't have any documents on him but now the case is being examined again with the Indian government taking notice which is a positive development," Burney said.

The activist said Ramazan's identity has been established without any doubt now.

He explained that the Pakistan government will now have to put in a formal request for Ramazan's repatriation through the proper channels.

"I yearn for him to return home as he is my flesh and blood. I had given up hope when his father forcibly took him away to Bangladesh in 2008 but in September I recognised him through photographs on the internet. Now I talk to him on Skype and on the phone regularly," Razia said.

Razia said it was a miracle for her when she was able to talk to her son for the first time last month after nearly seven years.

"I just cried and cried and he tried consoling me," she recalled.

She said she was satisfied that he was being looked after well by the Childline Charity in Bhopal where Ramazan is staying at their home for children.

"He also just wants to return to Pakistan as soon as possible," she said.

"I hope my appeal and pleas are heard soon by the Prime Minister of India and Pakistan and they help a mother reunite with her son," she said.

Ramazan's story is different from the Indian deaf and dumb girl Geeta who returned to India last month after being stranded in Pakistan for nearly 14 years.

While Geeta by mistake wandered into Lahore after boarding the wrong train,?Ramadan?ran away from his home in Bangladesh and crossed into India in 2011.

According to Razia, her former husband divorced her and went to Bangladesh with his second wife and forcibly took away Ramazan without her knowledge.

"Ramazan has told me that they mistreated and abused him a lot and fed up he ran away to India in a bid to return to Karachi," she said.

Ramzan was arrested by the police two years later after wandering around India and than brought to Bhopal where they now take good care of him.