Gurinderjit Singh (12) has been abandoned by his parents and he is stuck in London for the last 20 months. Though he wants to be back in Punjab with his grandparents, but without a passport, he can’t be home. Guess what the lonely boy was found abandoned on a street in the Asian-dominated western London suburb of Southall on March 18, 2008. His parents, Mohinder Singh and Deepinder Kaur, used forged documents to travel and are in hiding to aviod being arrested and deported. “Both are in Europe. Mohinder is believed to be in Italy, while Deepinder is stated to be…in the United Kingdom,” the Ealing Council told the Punjab and Haryana High Court last week.
The boy is currently living with an Indian family appointed as his guardian by the West London Borough of Ealing council (local authority), which governs Southall. The council moved the court after the ministry of external affairs and the Indian high commission in London failed to arrange an emergency passport for the boy. As Singh’s passport is with his parents. “This has become a torture for him,” the council said. In its petition, the council criticised the ministry’s non-cooperative attitude. When “Gurinderjit’s uncle (Mohinder’s brother) came forward to claim his guardianship and filed a case in Punjab the council’s lawyer Anil Malhotra told the court that it could not be decided in the absence of the boy. He said the family division of the London high court had asked the Indian authorities to cancel the old passport and issue a new one to Singh.
“The MEA and high commission both have cited rules, saying an application for issuing a passport or an emergency certificate should be signed by parents in case of a minor,” Malhotra told the court. As usual though it been over an year the MEA refused comment, saying it was a matter to be decided by the court. It just shows how least concerned these institutions are with what happens to people they are supposed to be protecting and taking care of. (Hindustan Times: 19th November, 2009)
No comments:
Post a Comment