High commission officials meet Pakistani child detained in India

Officials from the Pakistan High Commission in India have met with Asmad Ali, a 14-year old Pakistani child detained in the city of Amritsar.

Ali, a resident of Azad Kashmir, crossed the Line of Control (LoC) last year in an attempt to catch his pigeons. He has been detained by Indian authorities since and is being kept in a centre for minors in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) for the past four months.

The child’s uncle, Arbab Ali had approached Pakistani and Indian authorities in this matter, after which consular access to Ali was provided by India's home ministry.

On Friday, an official of the high commission met the child in Amritsar, after which he would be transferred to an 'observation home' in IIOJK. 

Ali's uncle said the child is fond of pigeons and added that while going to retrieve his pigeons, the boy did not realise he had crossed the LoC. His uncle added that the child is a student of grade eight. 

Arbab furthered that the detention of the child has greatly upset the family, stating that Ali's grandmother “who raised him, cries all day”.

According to sources, Ali was arrested by the Indian Army on November 28, 2021, for crossing the LoC by mistake and was handed over to the Indian police forces in IIOJK. Police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the child for entering the occupied territory illegally. The Indian law stipulates a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Ali was then produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in Poonch District and is now at the Juvenile Justice Centre in Ranbir Singhpura.

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After the death of his mother, Ali's father Banaras Ali remarried in Lahore- while the child was brought up by his grandfather Muhammad Aslam and grandmother Khadija. His grandfather worked as a labourer and recently had to quit his job due to an injury. In these circumstances, the responsibility of the family now falls on those who drive hired taxis in Islamabad.

Rahul Kapoor, a human rights activist in India who is working for the release of the Pakistani child told The Express Tribune that he found out about the boy's case in late January, after which he began fighting for his release.

Rahul stated that he is happy that his struggle has paid off and today child was granted consular access, believing it to be the “first success”.

“Hopefully this child will return to his country very soon”, Rahul stated after meeting the Pakistani officials in Amritsar.