TIA Correspondent /
Expressing gratitude, on the return of Geeta, the deaf and mute Indian girl from Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced a contribution of Rs 10 million for the Edhi Foundation. He thanked the Edhi family for looking after Geet for more than a decade.
“What the Edhi family has done is too priceless to be measured but I am happy to announce a contribution of Rs10 million for their foundation,” he tweeted PM.
The PM welcomed Geeta and said “it was truly wonderful to have her back home”.
Modi also telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and thanked him for the efforts in ensuring Geeta’s safe return home.
Geeta finally returned to her home country on Monday but soon said she did not recognise the family she thought was hers.
The young woman smiled, waved and fought back tears after landing at New Delhi airport clutching bouquets of flowers and escorted by charity workers and officials.
She was hopeful of being reunited with her long-lost family after identifying them earlier this month in photographs delivered by Indian officials in Pakistan.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also thanked the foundation for its service to Ms Geeta. Briefing media in New Delhi, Ms Swaraj also thanked them for safeguarding her religion and taking care of her food habits.
Ms Geeta, a hearing and speech impaired, returned back to India from Pakistan this morning after a decade. She had accidentally crossed over to Pakistan 15 years ago when she was a child.
Ms Swaraj also said that when Geeta met her prospective parents and brothers and sisters, she was not able to recognise them. The Minister said, Geeta’s blood samples has been taken for DNA test and blood sample of a family member, which is claiming to be her’s family, has also been taken.
Ms Swaraj said, the government has identified an institution at Indore in Madhya Pradesh where Ms Geeta will be kept, if the DNA tests do not match. The Minister also trashed reports that Geeta was married.
In reply to a query, Ms Swaraj said, people to people contacts can help a lot in improving bilateral relations with Pakistan.
Geeta who was also present in the press conference expressed happiness through her gestures. On the occasion, Bilquis Edhi, who took care of Geeta in Karachi, said today is like Eid for her.