Swaraj thanks Pak for 'daughter of India' Uzma's return

Amid continued tension in Indo- Pak ties, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today thanked the Pakistani establishment and judiciary for facilitating the return of Indian national Uzma Ahmed, whom she described as a "daughter of India".
The minister said she "heaved a sigh of relief" as soon as Uzma, who had alleged that she was forced to marry a Pakistani man at gunpoint during her visit there, crossed the Wagah border earlier in the day.
Political relations have their own place, Swaraj said.
"Without considering the current state of tense Indo-Pak ties, I would like to say that if Uzma is back it is with big help from Pakistan foreign office. Pakistan home ministry has also helped us a great deal," the minister asserted.

Swaraj had words of praise for Uzma's counsel Barrister Shahnawaz Moon and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani of the Islamabad High Court.
She said while the counsel treated Uzma as his child, the judge dealt with the case on humanitarian grounds and not through the prism of India-Pakistan relations.

"The Pakistani judge was told by Tahir that this case was a matter of 'Pakistan's prestige' but he asked how is it about India and Pakistan?," the minister said.
She also thanked Uzma to trust the Indian High Commission and said it was heartening to know that an Indian when trapped in a foreign land relies on Indian missions as a "ray of hope".

Uzma had also maintained that if she was sent back from the High Commission, she will commit suicide, Swaraj said, adding that the government was even ready to keep her for 2 or 3 years at the Indian High Commission but will not send her back to the person who tortured her.
The minister also thanked officials of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, especially Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh, who recalled his first meeting with a traumatised Uzma which made it easier for him to take a decision to give her shelter in the mission.
Swaraj said the moment Uzma said she is an Indian, all other questions became redundant about her language and her religion.

"When I saw Uzma kiss the Indian ground at Wagah border, that picture speaks a thousand words itself. That gesture alone won the hearts of all Indians," the minister added.