The families of two Pakistani boys, who were detained after straying across the Barmer border into India a week ago, Tuesday urged the governments of the two countries to take steps for their early release.
Azhar Ansari, 17, and his cousin Zohaib, 10, apparently dug below the barbed wire fence on the Indo-Pak border to slip into the Indian side on Saturday, Barmer police said. They were apprehended by a Border Security Force patrol party.
The two boys went missing shortly after they left home on that day, saying they were going to school. Their families in Tando Layar in Sindh province learnt from reports on television news channels Tuesday morning that the boys were being held in a police station in Rajasthan.
Azra, the mother of Azhar, said, "No one from the (Pakistan) government has contacted us. We just want our children to come back as soon as possible.
"We want the Indian and Pakistani governments and all civil society groups to help us to get them back. Our children have made a mistake, they said they were going to school but did not come back. We looked all over but could not trace them," she said, breaking down in tears.
According to Barmer police, the boys told interrogators that they ran away from their home after being scolded by their parents.
Abdul Sattar Ansari, the grandfather of Azhar, said, "We found out that the boys had mistakenly crossed over to Pakistan from television reports. We are waiting for someone to take up their issue."
"We appeal to India and Pakistan to return them home and end our worries," said Abdul Sattar, whose family migrated from Patiala in India in 1947.
Zohaib's brother Zubair said, "We were worried earlier but our worries have increased now because this has become a matter involving two countries. We are praying to god for their early return and asking the two countries to return the boys to their mothers."
Dozens of Indians and Pakistanis are arrested every year for mistakenly crossing the border between the two countries. The governments of the two countries have recently initiated steps for the early release of such persons.