Nat Geo's 'Afghan Girl' not to be deported
- Gula was dubbed the 'Mona Lisa of Afghan war'.
- She was arrested for the alleged forgery of a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC).
- The decision was taken on humanitarian grounds.
Pakistan will not deport Sharbat Gula, National Geographic's iconic green-eyed 'Afghan Girl', for using fake ID cards to stay in this city, a media report today quoted an official as saying.
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Gula, who was immortalised after her haunting picture taken at a refugee camp in Pakistan in 1985 was carried by the magazine on its cover and became a symbol of her country's wars, was arrested on October 26 from her home here.
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A special anti-corruption and immigration court in Peshawar ordered Gula's deportation to Afghanistan on Friday after serving a 15-day jail sentence besides slapping a fine of 1,10,000 rupees (USD 1,100).
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Gula will complete her sentence on Wednesday.
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She will not be deported from Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government official Shaukat Yousafzai said.
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The provincial home department has also stopped implementation of the decision to deport her.
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Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan requested KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to not deport Sharbat Gula.
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The decision was taken on humanitarian grounds and as a goodwill gesture towards Afghanistan.
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Gula, who was dubbed as 'Mona Lisa of Afghan war', was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for alleged forgery of a Pakistani Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC).
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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.
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According to interim charge sheet submitted on November 1, the prosecutor said that she accepted the main charge of faking her identity to get the CNIC.
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Gula said that her late husband, Rehmat Gul, had earlier made a manual national identity card in 1988, which was used to get the CNIC with the help of an agent who was bribed.
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The FIA also registered an FIR on October 20 against three former government employees for fraudulently issuing Pakistani CNICs to Afghan nationals, including Gula.
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Pakistan has been tackling the Afghan refugee crisis for over three decades. It is estimated that some three million Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan, half of whom are unregistered.Â