Worried parents of Pakistani girls want them back home

CHANDIGARH: Following the Indian army’s surgical strike across the Line of Control, the 19 young women, who are here to attend a peace event, were flooded with frantic calls from their worried parents in Pakistan asking them to return home immediately.

The girls were originally supposed to travel to Shimla on Friday and return to Pakistan on Monday. The organisers said they will take a final call on Friday morning.

“We are mulling all options,” said Pramod Sharma, coordinator of Yuvsatta, the NGO organising the event, adding that they have checked at the border where they are allowing people to cross over.

“But we would like to see how the situation develops on Friday morning before taking any decision,” he said.

The 19 girls are all students who came here to attend the five-day Global Peace Fest being organised here by the NGO here.

The parents have been calling since afternoon when the news about the Indian Army’s strike spread.

“But we told them that the girls are safe and being looked after well,” said Sharma. “I’ve been telling them that in India, guests are treated like gods and there’s no need to worry.”

Sources said the intelligence sleuths have been keeping a close watch over the guests from across the border and have instructed the organisers not to allow anyone near the guests from Pakistan.

Following this, the organisers altered their programme and are not allowing them to interact with the public or the media.

The girls began their day with a tour to the villages in the periphery of the city. The organizers split them into two groups and also took them to religious places.

Later, they were taken to Indian School of Business (ISB) in SAS Nagar for plenary sessions along with delegates from 31 other countries.

The Pakistani girls also interacted with students of a school and gave them India-Pakistan friendship cards.