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Pakistani group seeks Geeta's return, India says no

Activist files case in Sindh court saying New Delhi has failed to establish deaf-mute girl's identity

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Geeta after arrival in India
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Amidst a fresh controversy surrounding Geeta, the deaf-mute girl who was stranded in Pakistan for 15 years, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has launched fresh efforts to trace her parents, in the wake of a Pakistani human rights group demanding her repatriation, following India's failure to establish her nationality.

The ministry has zeroed in on Bihar to find her family, seeking help from local administration to broadcast Geeta's pictures in every village.

Noted Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney has filed a case in the Sindh High Court, demanding the return of Geeta as India has failed to establish her nationality.

Burney, chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust, was an expert advisor in the United Nations on human rights.

Burney has also questioned Geeta's stay in India, claiming that nobody was granted permission to meet her. "Even after two months of Geeta's arrival in India, her family has not been traced," Burney said in his Facebook message.

MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has written a letter to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, seeking his help to trace Geeta's parents.
Swarup said details like Geeta's photographs over the years and identification marks have been provided to the Bihar CM and he has been requested to forward it to officials at the district and panchayat levels.

"Efforts are on to ascertain her parents. A few days back, Swaraj has written to Nitish Kumar providing him her details. The letter has Geeta's photos, how she looked before etc. We have also given details about her possible areas of origin as indicated by her," Swarup said.

"The minister has asked help from the Bihar administration to broadcast Geeta's old pictures to every panchayat block in a bid to find her family," he said.

The Bihar government has also been told to find the 15-year-old records of all missing girls. Swarup, however, dismissed Burney's plea to return her to Pakistan, saying "we are convinced that she is a daughter of India."

Geeta, who accidentally crossed over to Pakistan as a child, returned to India after 13 years but has not found her family yet. She failed to recognise a family from Bihar that claimed she was their lost daughter. She was about 10 when she crossed from India to Pakistan.

Her story has been compared to the Salman Khan blockbuster Bajrangi Bhaijaan -- about a little girl from Pakistan stuck in India. Geeta broke down on watching the film and yearned for home, something she shared with Salman on news channels.

She has so far rejected three couples who claimed that they were her parents.

"After the photo was released, three families came forward saying that perhaps Geeta was their child. But Geeta did not recognise anyone. The MEA has now asked us to get more details from her regarding the surroundings where she lived etc. Now that she can communicate better in sign language, we have been asking her these questions," said Monica Punjabi, director at Indore-based Mook Badhir Sangathan.

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