Abandoned Sikh boy...

Today, at least for this post, I am taking a break from the war between Israel and Hamas with all its horrors. Yes, it continues. Of course.

Today, however, I have an update on an old story from April of last year. Does everybody remember the story of the little Sikh boy with the beautiful kesh found wandering around Southall, London? If you don't, please go and read the strange story of Gurinder Singh. The mystery of who he is and why he was alone in a strange country where he didn't even speak the language seems to have been solved by the power of DNA. (Every time I look at this picture, I have a burning desire to tie a patka on him. He looks very, very exposed and vulnerable, even with the brave smile on his face. Especially with that brave smile on his face. That mother thing, I guess!)

Read on...

FROM THAINDIAN NEWS

DNA test confirms abandoned London boy is from Punjab
January 4th, 2009 - 11:55 pm ICT by IANS
Hoshiarpur, Jan 4 (IANS) The DNA tests of an 11-year-old Sikh boy found abandoned in London last year have established that he belongs to a family near Tanda town in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district and would be returning home soon, family members said Sunday.Several families, including those from Punjab and Bihar, had laid claim to the boy after he was found abandoned in London’s Asian-dominated Southall area.

Clearly a case of rampant illegal trafficking from Punjab, the boy, Gurinderjit Singh, had no idea how he landed in London and could converse only in Punjabi in the English-speaking country.

The confirmation of the DNA tests has been informed to Hoshiarpur’s Lok Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee through an official communication.

“Our High Commission at London has informed that as per DNA report of Oct 27, 2008, Kuldeep Singh has been identified as the paternal uncle of Gurinderjit Singh,” the minister wrote to the MP.

“The child - at present under interim care of Ealing Council, London - has desired to return to India to stay with his paternal uncle. A local court has consented that the council should make plans for the child’s future and send him back to India,” according to the communique.

Kuldeep Singh, a farmer who lives in a village near Tanda town, 180 km from Chandigarh, had laid claim to the boy after media reports about him.

“We are overjoyed with this news. We are eagerly waiting for him to return and his ordeal to end,” Kuldeep Singh said from his village.

A court in London has decreed that the boy should be sent to India in the custody of his paternal uncle. It stated that the boy should not be handed over to his mother at all.

The boy is believed to have been abandoned by his mother, who entered Britain illegally through France. The boy’s father, who himself is an illegal immigrant in a European country, also could not come forward to claim his son for the risk of being deported.

All's well that ends well, right?

WRONG!

We are Sikhs and nothing can be simple and clear cut. At least little Gurinder Singh his Didi ji, Navjit Kaur, seems more interested in bringing her brother home than in using him in some sort of a power struggle. I also note in this second story, just barely mentioned, there is also a daughter missing We move on to this second story...

Also FROM THAINDIAN NEWS:

London’s abandoned Sikh boy now has family trouble brewing

January 7th, 2009 - 2:06 pm ICT by IANS -Tanda (Punjab), Jan 7 (IANS) A Sikh boy found abandoned in London last year is headed for family trouble in India even before he sets foot on home soil to be reunited with relatives.As if last year’s drama of 11-year-old Gurinderjit Singh’s mysterious appearance outside a clinic in the Asian-dominated Southall area was not enough, his maternal family has now demanded the boy’s custody.

A London court had recently decreed that the boy be sent back to his paternal family in a village near this town in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, 180 km from Chandigarh, after his DNA samples matched with his paternal uncle Kuldeep Singh.

The boy is believed to have been abandoned by his mother, who entered Britain illegally through France. The boy’s father, who himself is an illegal immigrant in a European country, also could not come forward to claim his son as he risked deportation.

But just before the boy is headed for home to be reunited with relatives, his maternal family has threatened to take legal recourse to seek his custody.

“We want his custody. We had spent money to send his father abroad. Our daughter is also missing. His (the boy’s) sister also lives with us. We will take legal help to get his custody,” Mohinder Singh, the abandoned boy’s maternal grandfather, told IANS at his home in Jalalabad village in Hoshiarpur district.

Gurinderjit’s 13-year-old sister, Navjit Kaur, is also waiting to meet up with her brother.

“I have been missing him for so long. I want to be united with him now,” she said.

But his paternal uncle, Kuldeep Singh, disputed the claim of the maternal family.

“He is being sent to us under court orders from London. No one else has any claim on him. We have proceeded legally. Where was this family when the boy was found abandoned last year. We sent DNA samples from here to get him back. A divorce case of his father and mother is already on. We will not let anyone take him,” Kuldeep Singh told IANS.

“We are overjoyed with this news of his return. We are eagerly waiting for him to return and his ordeal to end,” he said.

Several families, including those from Punjab and Bihar, had laid claim over the boy after he was found abandoned in London’s Asian-dominated Southall area last year.

Clearly a case of rampant illegal trafficking from Punjab, the boy had no idea how he landed in London and could converse only in Punjabi in the English-speaking country. Investigations into his case in London had revealed that he was abandoned by his mother after she illegally came to Britain from France.

The boy’s ordeal seems to be headed for a conclusion after the latest decree by the London court to send him back to his paternal family. The confirmation of the DNA tests was conveyed to Hoshiarpur’s Lok Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee through an official communication.

“Our High Commission at London has informed that as per DNA report of October 27, 2008, Kuldeep Singh has been identified as the paternal uncle of Gurinderjit Singh, the child - presently under interim care of Ealing Council, London - has desired to return to India to stay with his paternal uncle. A local court has consented that the council should make plans for the child’s future and send him back to India,” the minister wrote to the MP.