The Hindu : Munir goes home with gifts, fond memories

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 13, 2003

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Munir goes home with gifts, fond memories

Photo: S. Subramanium

The Pakistani boy, Munir, waves from the Delhi-Lahore bus on his way back home, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI AUG. 12. Munir Mohammad Bilal at 13 had every reason to be petrified when this past June he was caught by five Border Security Force personnel while straying into India from the Mochipur area of Bahawalpur district in Pakistan.

But as he left Delhi for Lahore by a Delhi Transport Corporation bus this morning loaded with gifts, the boy also carried with him fond memories of a country, which in his own words had treated him well.

``Initially I got very scared when the men in uniform caught and questioned me at the border and I learnt that I had strayed into India,'' said Bilal, facing cameras for the umpteenth time since his accidental venture into the country.

Bilal, who hails from Battu Pind in Bahawalpur, had gone to his uncle's house in Mochipur to borrow money for his sister's medical treatment. Since his father is blind, his mother is the breadwinner.

It was apparently while he was returning to his village from Mochipur that he strayed into India and was caught. However, the boy — who speaks a peculiar mix of Urdu-Punjabi — said that despite being an illegal visitor, he was not treated harshly or beaten by anyone.

This when both the BSF and the joint interrogation committee had faced difficulty in understanding his language.

Bilal, who was lodged in the Children's Home at Bikaner in Rajasthan, was released at the intervention of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, after his case was taken up and highlighted by the People's Union for Civil Liberties.

He was brought to Delhi on August 10. He was subsequently presented before the Home Ministry officials on Monday for completion of formalities for his return.

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