Interior Ministry directs to verify nationality of Pakistani boys held in India

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Interior has directed IG Azad Jammu and Kashmir to verify citizenship of two Pakistani schoolboys incarcerated in India for months, after having strayed across the Line of Control.

On September 18, 2016, unknown militants had waged an attack on Indian army's brigade headquarters in Uri, Indian-occupied Kashmir, leaving 19 Indian soldiers dead. India, maintaining its tradition, had once again put the blame on Pakistan without even preliminary investigations held.

The two school-goers, Ahsan Khursheed and Faisal Husain Awan, lived in a village in Azad Kashmir located at an hour’s walk away from the LoC. They were picked by the Indian army on Sep 21 - three days after the Uri attack - after they had strayed across the border.

However today the Ministry of Interior provided particulars of the two school-goers to the AJK government and directed the IG to verify their citizenship.

The top cop, after verifying the particulars, will forward his report to the ministry.

India's efforts to deliberately involve the two teens in Uri attack were foiled after its own investigating agency declared them innocent. Of late, Indian officials admitted that the two boys had mistakenly crossed the de-facto border.

On Tuesday, Dr. Ghulam Mustafa, brother of Faisal Awan — one of the two teenagers held in India  — revealed that no one in Pakistan had yet contacted him over the matter.

He was speaking in Geo News' program ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’.

Mustafa said that he tried to contact Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit, but he did not receive his phone call.

He also contacted Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria, who told him that this was not his mandate. Zakaria, however, told Dr. Mustafa that he will convey his message to the relevant authorities in Pakistan and Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.