Famed Afghan girl sent to prison on 14-day judicial remand

Fake CNIC case

PESHAWAR: A local court on Friday sent Sharbat Gula, the green-eyed Afghan woman whose picture made it to the cover of the National Geographic magazine in 1985, on 14 days judicial remand in the case of possessing a fake Pakistani computerised national identity card (CNIC).

The officials of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) produced her before the court of judicial magistrate Jamil Khan on the charges of living in the country on fraudulent identity papers. In the court, Sharbat Gula denied having made fake Pakistani CNIC. The court sent her on 14 days judicial remand to Central Prison Peshawar and fixed November 11 for the next hearing in the case.

The haunting image of Sharbat Gula — taken at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in Peshawar by photographer Steve McCurry in the 1984 when she was only 12 — became the most famous cover image in the National Geographic’s history.

On the other hand, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Sharbat Gula was not registered as a refugee. The Senior External Relations Officer UNHCR for Pakistan, Dan McNorton reportedly said that UNHCR cannot extend any assistance to her as she was not a registered refugee.

Sharbat Gula, who fled Afghanistan during Soviet occupation shot to fame after her photograph as a young refugee was published on the cover of National Geographic back in 1985 on her arrival to Peshawar.

The FIA on Tuesday got her two days physical remand after she was arrested from Nauthia, Peshawar on the charges of possessing fake Pakistani CNIC.   The FIA was looking into the issuance of CNICs in her name and in the name of two Afghan men who were mentioned as her sons in the registration forms.

Her family members said Sharbat Gula was suffering from high blood pressure. Her three daughters and a son were grief-stricken following the arrest of their mother.They said her husband Rehmat Gul died about four years ago.

On October 20, the FIA registered an FIR against Sharbat Gula and three former employees of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in the case involving wrongful issuance of CNICs to her and the two men who aren’t related to her.

As per the FIR, after completion of an inquiry and checking of record it was established that three employees of Nadra including Palwasha Afridi, Mohsin Ehsan and Emad fraudulently issued identity cards to the three Afghan nationals, including Sharbat Gula, Wali Khan and Rauf Khan.

She now faces seven to 14 years prison and fine of $3,000 to $5,000 if convicted by the court in the fraud case.Palwasha Afridi was granted interim pre-arrest bail by the Peshawar High Court some days ago and a hearing for confirming the bail would be held later.

On the hand, the Afghan government has expressed concern over Sharbat Gula’s arrest and decided to take up the issue with the Pakistan government.The sources said that the Afghan consul general in Peshawar, Dr Abdullah Waheed Pohan, approached the authorities concerned to seek the release of Sharbat Gula. He also paid a visit to the Central Prison Peshawar to meet her but was unable to do so as the jail authorities said the meeting could not be arranged.

No bail petition has been filed yet in the court of law for Sharbat Gula’s release. It was learnt that Latif Afridi has been approached by the Afghan Consulate to become Sharbat Gula’s lawyer in the case.