Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
India

President Calls Geeta 'Symbol Of India-Pakistan Unity'

Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Oct, 2015 11:27 AM
    A day after returning to India from Pakistan where she was stranded for years, speech and hearing impaired Geeta met President Pranab Mukherjee -- who called her "a symbol of India-Pakistan unity" -- and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and took a ride on Delhi Metro.
     
    "You are the daughter of both our countries, a symbol of India-Pakistan unity. God has listened to your prayers," Mukherjee told the 23-year-old when she called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
     
    A Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said Mukherjee blessed Geeta, a Hindu who strayed into Pakistan when she was around 11 years old in 2003. Pakistan Rangers promptly handed her over to the Edhi Foundation that took care of her since then.
     
    Unable to explain who she was and from where she came, Geeta began living in Pakistan, and grew from a teenager to a young adult.
     
    The president also thanked Bilquis Bano Edhi and the Edhi Foundation for their good work in Pakistan.
     
    Before meeting the president, Geeta met Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who asked her about her life in Pakistan and how she strayed into that country.
     
    At both meetings, Geeta was accompanied by members of Edhi Foundation.
     
     
    Geeta, who interacted with everyone with the help of a facilitator, later took a ride on Delhi Metro, travelling from the Civil Lines station in the city's north to Patel Chowk station in the heart of the capital.
     
    At the Patel Chowk station, she was taken around the Delhi Metro museum.
     
    On Monday, Geeta flew into New Delhi on Pakistan International Airlines to begin a new life on her home soil.
     
    Among the first people she called on were External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had taken a keen interest on her return, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
     
    Modi thanked Bilquis Edhi, wife of Karachi-based Edhi Foundation founder Abdul Sattar Edhi, for taking care of Geeta in Pakistan. He also announced a Rs.1 crore rupee donation for the foundation.
     
    On Tuesday, the NGO declined to accept the money.
     
    "Edhi has thanked Modi and politely declined to accept his announced financial help," the Dawn quoted Edhi Foundation spokesman Anwar Kazmi as saying.
     
     
    "What the Edhi family has done is too priceless to be measured but I am happy to announce a contribution of Rs.1 crore for their foundation," Modi had tweeted on Monday.
     
    Edhi Foundation is a social welfare organisation known for its extensive social work.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Delhi's Woman Kills Husband With Lover's Help

    Delhi's Woman Kills Husband With Lover's Help
    Gulistan and her lover Rizwan Saifi, in his late 20s, were arrested for strangling Salim on Thursday night inside his house in east Delhi's New Ashok Nagar area.

    Delhi's Woman Kills Husband With Lover's Help

    PM Modi Tweets Condolences Over Terror Attacks In France, Kuwait, Tunisia

    PM Modi Tweets Condolences Over Terror Attacks In France, Kuwait, Tunisia
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday tweeted his condolences over terror attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia, that left over 50 people dead, and said the progress of humanity lies in peace and brotherhood and not in terror and mindless violence.

    PM Modi Tweets Condolences Over Terror Attacks In France, Kuwait, Tunisia

    Vasundhara Admits To Helping Lalit Modi But Bjp Backs Her

    Bharatiya Janata Party sources said that Saudan Singh, who is organisational incharge of Rajasthan, and general secretary Arun Singh met Raje in Jaipur on Wednesday following Congress showing the purported document.

    Vasundhara Admits To Helping Lalit Modi But Bjp Backs Her

    Emergency India's Darkest Period, Can't Be Forgotten: Modi

    Emergency India's Darkest Period, Can't Be Forgotten: Modi
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India was placed under Emergency 40 years ago "for the sake of power" and the event which "cannot be forgotten" was the "darkest period" in our history.

    Emergency India's Darkest Period, Can't Be Forgotten: Modi

    Modi Hasn't Shown Signs Of Dictatorship: Journalist Coomi Kapoor

    Modi Hasn't Shown Signs Of Dictatorship: Journalist Coomi Kapoor
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasn't shown any signs of dictatorship nor is there any chance of an emergency being declared again, says veteran journalist Coomi Kapoor

    Modi Hasn't Shown Signs Of Dictatorship: Journalist Coomi Kapoor

    Murthy Rules Out Returning To Infosys Again

    Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy on Monday ruled out returning to the company as he did in June 2013, three years after retiring in August 2011.

    Murthy Rules Out Returning To Infosys Again