It was a cold November day last year when Asmad Ali (14) was playing with his pigeons, and a few birds decided to leave the flock. He ran to chase them but failed. Tired of running and hopeless after losing his birds, the boy turned back to go home but it was nowhere in sight. Before he could realize anything, he was stopped by some men in uniform and was asked to bow down. His pockets were checked and a long interrogation started. Samad, was trembling in fear when he was told that the land he was standing on was not his home. It was India.
The young boy, from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir’s (POK) Tatrinote village, was caught crossing the border by the Indian Army. After some paperwork, Asmad was handed over to J&K police. An FIR was lodged against him under Egress and Internal Movement Ordinance (E&IMCO) and a trial started in juvenile court. It has been 8 months that he is stuck in a juvenile home in Ranbir Singh Pura district, waiting for his repatriation to Pakistan.
“Life has been very cruel with my child. First he lost his mother when he was just three months. Then his father left him at our place and never returned to meet him. And now, when he is just 14, he is in a jail of another country and we have no idea when he will be back,” said Mrs Khateeja Khatoon, 70, Asmad’s maternal grandmother who spoke with The Hindu over phone from Pakistan.
