The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided not to deport Nat Geo’s famed ‘Afghan Girl’ Sharbat Gula on humanitarian grounds and as a goodwill gesture towards Afghanistan.
KP Minister for Health and Information Shaukat Yousafzai confirmed that Sharbat Gula would not be deported.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan had also requested KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak not to deport Sharbat Gula to Afghanistan.
Gula was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Oct 26 from her house in Nauthia area for alleged forgery of a computerised national identity card (CNIC).
A day after her arrest, the United Nations High Commissioner distanced itself from Sharbat Gula, claiming that she was not a registered refugee. Gula will complete her 15-day sentence on Wednesday.
During a bail hearing before a special court earlier this week, Sharbat Gula’s lawyer said she was the sole bread winner of her family and was currently suffering from Hepatitis C.
Earlier in the week, a special anti-corruption and immigration court in Peshawar ordered that she be deported after she had served a 15-day jail sentence and paid a fine of Rs110,000.
Sharbat Gula became famously known as the ‘Afghan Girl’ when National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry captured her photograph at the Nasir Bagh refugee camp situated on the edge of Peshawar in 1984 and identified her as Sharbat Gula.
She gained worldwide recognition when her image was featured on the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine at a time when she was approximately 12 years old.
