Five year-old boy returned from India
06 February, 2017
Pakistan on Sunday sent a message of thanks to India after a five-year-old boy who was allegedly trafficked and kidnapped to India by his father nearly a year ago was reunited with his mother.
Ifthikar Ahmed was handed over to Rohina Kiani by border officials in the town of Wagah in Punjab on Saturday evening following a long legal battle seeking his return from his father, Gulzar Ahmad Tantray.
Kiani, a resident of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, told AFP on Sunday she was overwhelmed with happiness and prepared to forgive her estranged husband, who is from India-held Kashmir (IHK).
"I'm extremely happy and unable to express my joy. I pardon my husband and hope he will also join us soon to live with us here in Pakistan," she told AFP.
Tantray was among thousands who crossed the de facto border into Kashmir while an insurgency was at its peak in IHK.
He later married Kiani, but wanted the family to return to his home village following the birth of their son.
When Kiani refused, Tantray absconded with the child in March 2016.
Kiani pursued a custody case in an Indian court through the Pakistani embassy in New Delhi, and the court ruled in her favour. "We are thankful to Indian authorities for their cooperation in this humanitarian matter," Pakistan's High Commissioner to New Delhi Abdul Basit tweeted.
Kiani also thanked both governments, and urged them to come together to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir conflict. "Thousands of people are suffering from grief and sorrow because of this dispute. The Kashmir issue must be solved to end problems of people living on both sides of Kashmir," she said.
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