Daily Times

PESHAWAR: A special court in the provincial capital Thursday ordered deportation of iconic Afghan woman, Sharbat Gula, after finding her guilty of illegally obtaining a Pakistani identity card.

Gula was also sentenced to 15 days in jail and fined about Rs 110,000.

Gula was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Wednesday last week on the charges of obtaining and possessing a Pakistani identity card (CNIC) on forged documents. Judge Farah Jamshed announced the verdict in the second hearing of the case. Eariler on Tuesday, the court rejected bail plea of Gula on the grounds of no legal arguments by her lawyers.

Gula is globally known for her childhood photo that became a symbol of the sufferings of the Afghan refugees – particularly children – who had migrated to Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Her photograph taken by American Photographer Steve McCurry at a refugee camp in Pakistan made it to the cover of National Geographic magazine in June 1985.

Meanwhile, talking to Daily Times, Afghanistan Embassy Deputy Councillor Muhammad Nasim Kakar said all those working for Gula’s release were happy with the court decision. “The court has rightly decided to let her go free. Gula and her family were already preparing to leave for Afghanistan as they had packed most of their stuff,” he said.

Kakar said: “Afghan Ambassador Dr Omar Zakhilwal has instructed for giving her all possible relief. We will arrange for her journey once she is set free. She is going back to Afghanistan next week.”

He said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani would receive Gula, now in her 40s, and her children on their return. “The president will receive them and will host a function for them. He will hand over keys of a new house in Kabul to Gula,” Kakar said, and added that Gula, who is suffering from hepatitis C, would also be provided with proper health facilities.

Her nephew, Naimat Gul, who is accompanying her at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar, is worried about her health as some medical results are not so promising. “Some tests are clear but result of one important test is not encouraging. We have sent specimen to a laboratory in Lahore for more accurate results,” Naimat told this scribe.

Naimat is happy at the prospect of Gula getting an official welcome in Kabul next week. “Everyone has assisted us but the efforts made by the Afghan ambassador are remarkable. They have assisted us at every step during the past few days and now the Afghanistan government is going to treat her the way she deserves to be treated,” he added.

During a brief meeting with Gula at the LRH, this scribe learnt that the ailing woman was much relieved to know about the court decision, and was aware that her stay in Pakistan was coming to an end after about 14 years. “I am thankful to everyone around the world who cared for me. I will miss my neighbours, their children and the people whom I was in touch with in one way or the other,” Gula said in a brief chat.

Her legal case comes to limelight after Pakistan cracks down on undocumented refugees.

Pakistan has for decades provided safe haven for millions of Afghans who fled their country after the Soviet invasion of 1979.

Currently, it hosts 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the UN Refugee Agency, making it the third-largest refugee-hosting nation in the world.

The agency also estimates a further one million unregistered refugees are in the country.

According to a UNHCR document, about 313,000 registered Afghan refugees have been repatriated to Afghanistan under the voluntary repatriation programme this year. Of the refugees who retur­ned to their country, 251,639 were living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 23,278 in Balochistan, 2,513 in Sindh, 31,138 in Punjab, 4,653 in Islamabad and 363 in Azad Kashmir.