NEW DELHI: Unaware of man-made border, Geeta may have slipped unnoticed into Pakistan as a young girl 15 years ago, but her return was unmissable. Geeta got a triumphant homecoming under jostling flashes of lightbulbs, welcomed by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Geeta's story however still has an inconclusive ending - as she refused to recognise the Mahatos from Bihar, whom she had claimed as her long-lost family from photographs.
She arrived in Delhi on Monday morning accompanied by Bilqis Edhi, wife of the founder of the Edhi foundation to a media scram, with a warm welcome from senior MEA and Pakistan high commission officials.
After going to her hotel, AIIMS doctors went to collect her blood sample for the DNA test, whose results should be known within a week.It was followed by a meeting with the external affairs minister who embraced her warmly at her office.
A smiling Geeta, escorted by Swaraj, Bilqis Edhi and foreign sectertary S Jaishankar then walked into the cavernous hall at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, which was packed to the gills with media persons.
"I am very happy to be in India. My heart is filled with happiness. I am touched the way I am being welcomed. In Pakistan, I used to often feel sad," Geeta told the media, through a deaf sign-language intepreter. In the evening, Geeta met with Modi at Race Course road, where she clung to his arm as per a photograph released by the government.
"Welcome Geeta. It is truly wonderful to have you back home. Was truly a delight to spend time with you today," tweeted Modi. Stating that there was no "amount of words" to thank the Edhi family, Modi described them as "apostles of kindness & compassion".
"What the Edhi family has done is too priceless to be measured but I am happy to announce a contribution of Rs. 1 crore to their foundation," he announced. Modi also thanked the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the return of Geeta during his phone call after the massive earthquake in Af-Pak region.
Swaraj was also profusely grateful to the Edhi foundation for taking care of Geeta.
"I thank the Edhi foundation which took care of her all these years. I on behalf of people of India and government thank Pakistan government for facilitating Geeta's return... It is a happy day for us innocent Geeta came after so many years," said Swaraj, to which Bilqis Edhi replied, "This was my duty (yeh to mera farz tha)".
Swaraj said all the members of the organisation who accompanied Geeta have been accorded state guest status and will likely visit Agra, Ajmer Sharif dargah as well as various historical places in Delhi. Swaraj particularly praised the Edhi foundation for giving religious freedom to Geeta and allow her to perform all rituals while in Pakistan. "She had been a vegetarian all these years, didnt touch meat at all".
The foreign minister said that Geeta did not recognise Janardhan Mahato as her father, or other siblings, when they were brought face-to-face just before the press conference.
"Geeta has refused to go with the Mahatos and said they are not her parents, she will stay at a home in Indore," Swaraj said, adding Geeta's blood sample has been taken for the test.
"If the DNA samples match, then it will be a complex situation. We will ask Geeta to recollect things and go down the memory lane. We will make her sit again with them (Mahatos) so that she recollects her memory," she added.
According to spokesperson, AIIMS, Amit Gupta a doctors from the institute have collected the DNA samples of Geeta from the hotel where she is staying. These samples will be sent to the AIIMS Forensic lab and Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for carrying out necessary tests.
AIIMS has also constituted a multi disciplinary six-member committee headed by the institute medical superintendent (MS), Dr D K Sharma to determine Geeta’s parentage. “The Committee headed MS, AIIMS Dr Sharma includes faculty and experts from genetic, neuro-gentetic and forensic. The committee will submit its report to Director, AIIMS Prof MC Mishra,” added Gupta.
According to Gupta, AIIMS have already collected the samples of the family, which claimed Geeta as its own on October 24 after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) wrote to the institute. The MEA had asked AIIMS to collect samples for DNA test to confirm if Janardhan Mahato, who claims that Geeta is his daughter, is indeed her father.
"We have already collected the samples from her reported parents after we received a letter from the MEA to assist in her DNA test. We are fast tracking this test and the results will be out in a week," said Gupta adding that the samples have been sent to AIIMS Forensic lab and CBI's Forensic lab.
During the press conference, Sushma Swaraj refused to answer questions on whether the good vibes from Geeta's homecoming will help improve relations between India and Pakistan. Swaraj said government's priority is to bring back the Indians who are languishing in Pakistani jails for years and have developed mental illness.
Asked Pakistan High Commission's comment on Monday that it hoped India would release 459 Pakistani prisoners with same "love and affection" that Pakistan showed for Geeta, Swaraj refused to comment.
Bilqis Edhi said that Geeta had come to them as a young girl, but had been difficult to manage due to her disability. She was first named Fatima, but realised that she was probably hindu and "from across the border" due to her gestures like "touching feet, folding hands and asking for a 'ghanta' for worship".
"Her name Geeta came immediately to my mind when I realised she was hindu. It is a very holy name," added Edhi.
Geeta's story came to focus after the release of Salman Khan starrer 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' in which the hero unites a deaf-mute girl separated from her Pakistani mother who was visiting India. "Unhone hamari story le li, par kam to ho gaya (They may have taken our (Geeta's) story, but atleast it helped to find a solution)," said Edhi.
She said that bringing back Geeta was "like Eid". "I am very happy, but also a bit sad". In her meeting with Bilqis, Swaraj told her that she will be invited to Geeta's wedding.
Mahato claimed Geeta is his first child and her name was Heera who was lost in a fair in 2004. Though Mahato family claimed she was married and has a child, Geeta denied it.
A disappointed Janardhan Mahato described how he opened his arms to embrace Geeta, but she did not react. "We are now waiting for the DNA test," he said, dejectedly before getting into an awaiting car at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan.