KARACHI: The Edhi Foundation has refused to accept INR10 million donation offered by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the grounds of “principles and dignity,” Faisal Edhi said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference in the press club, he said that they had taken care of the hearing and speech impaired Indian girl, Geeta, like any other person lodged in their facility and that they were happy that she had reached her home where she belonged.

Faisal Edhi said, “It is generous of Indian PM Narendra Modi to have offered the donation. But, we cannot accept it because of the standard that my father Abdul Sattar Edhi has followed over the years.”

Prime Minister Modi offered the donation on Monday when Geeta made it back to Delhi along with the Edhi matriarch Bilquis Edhi and her grandchildren Saba and Saad Edhi. The Indian PM made this announcement on Twitter through a tweet in which he praised the generousness and compassion of the Edhi family while taking care of Geeta for more than a decade.

The announcement made by Faisal Edhi stirred a debate on social media giving rise to speculations that the move came because of strained relations between Pakistan and India and the pressure of Pakistan’s armed forces.

Rubbishing the rumours after the press conference, Edhi Foundation spokesperson Anwar Kazmi said that there was “nothing political about the move at all”. “It is simply a matter of principles. What we did for Geeta is similar to what we do for other children in our facility.”

Sharing an incident of last year, Mr Kazmi said that when robbers looted millions of rupees from the Edhi Foundation’s headquarters in Mithadar, Abdul Sattar Edhi received a Rs15 million cheque from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz. “Mr Edhi returned the cheque, saying he would ask Mr Riaz for assistance if he needed it.”

The 23-year-old girl, Geeta, had lived with the Edhi Foundation for around 13 years after being handed over by Rangers personnel.

According to staff at the Edhi Foundation, she had mistakenly crossed the border on a train that brought her to Lahore. After living in different Edhi centres in Punjab, she was brought to Karachi where she ended up staying for five years.

An Indian film, Bajrangi Bhaijan, made on a similar story, brought Geeta back to limelight accelerating search for her family.

Usually sharing cold vibes, the foreign offices of India and Pakistan cooperated with each other to arrange her travel documents and visa permit after she recognised her family through their pictures sent by the Indian high commission.

Though Faisal Edhi raised doubts about the authenticity of the family from the Indian state of Bihar, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured them that Geeta would not be handed over to the family without carrying out a DNA test.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2015

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