A cross-border love story that ended in prison

Published April 20, 2016
Mohammad Javed ─ Courtesy BBC
Mohammad Javed ─ Courtesy BBC

An Indian man who fell in love with a Pakistani girl was accused of passing state secrets to Pakistani intelligence officials and jailed for more than 11 years under India's controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), BBC reported.

Muhammad Javed, now 33, first met Mobina when he travelled to Karachi in 1999 with his mother for a family wedding. He and his cousin fell in love with each other during his three and a half months in the city.

"Within a month of our meeting, we expressed our love for each other," Javed told the BBC.

"She would leave home in the morning telling her family that she was going to college. I would meet her outside the college gate, and we would go and hang out in Sipari Park," he said.

On his return to India, Javed would spend most of his television mechanic's salary calling her from a phone booth, and the two wrote each other long love letters. His friends would translate their letters between Urdu and Hindi.

Javed went again to Karachi a year later to discuss with Mobina's family which side of the border the couple would live, but returned to India without the matter being decided.

In August 2002, Javed and three friends were abducted and tortured for three days before being produced in court, and were accused of passing state secrets to Pakistani intelligence officials.

Dozens of young Muslim men have been jailed on similar trumped-up charges across India, according to a spokesman of the campaign group Rihai Manch, the BBC reports.

Javed’s father sold the family’s land and jewellery to fight his case, and his mother laments that if she hadn’t insisted on going to Karachi in the first place, her son might not have lost some of the best years of his life.

When asked by the BBC if he would like to see her again, Javed said, "I have managed to expel her from my head, but not from my heart.”

“I still love her, but I'm afraid to call her. What happens if they go after me or my family again?"

Opinion

Editorial

Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...
Islamabad protest
Updated 20 Nov, 2024

Islamabad protest

As Nov 24 draws nearer, both the PTI and the Islamabad administration must remain wary and keep within the limits of reason and the law.
PIA uncertainty
20 Nov, 2024

PIA uncertainty

THE failed attempt to privatise the national flag carrier late last month has led to a fierce debate around the...
T20 disappointment
20 Nov, 2024

T20 disappointment

AFTER experiencing the historic high of the One-day International series triumph against Australia, Pakistan came...