If one looked closely, the tears in her eyes could be seen. Shahnaz Kaunsar, the woman from Pak-Occupied Kashmir whose death wish brought her to India eight years ago, today left for home. Her face awash with emotions, none of which reached her lips, had seven-year-old daughter Mobin by her side. Some said she looked back after crossing the border, but it may have just been someone’s imagination.Shahnaz could have passed off as any other person crossing into Pakistan from Wagah with a child in tow, but for the security that surrounded her. An inspector, two women constables and three guards, all from Jammu, accompanied her on this trip.Inspector Dilip said the mother and daughter from Jammu were taken to Delhi on December 17. ‘‘They stayed at Kashmir House for a day before leaving for Amritsar late on Thursday evening.’’When the blue Tata 407 pulled up in Wagah around 11am today, the media crews were waiting. But Shahnaz and Mobin were taken to the immigration office. They stepped out only around 3 pm when an Embassy official reached with the documents required.A police official said the Ministry of External Affairs had given strict instructions to the escorting party and the BSF to keep the two away from the media. ‘‘It’s purely for security reasons,’’ explained Inspector Dilip, Shahnaz’s escort, who did the speaking for her.She is depressed and anxious, he said. ‘‘Perhaps, she is apprehensive about the kind of welcome she will receive at home.’’ The few friends she made in India are trying to make sure it’s warm. Her advocate A.K. Saheny, for instance, is making sure the Rs 3 lakh compensation given to her by the J-K government is transferred to a bank account, given by Shahnaz, in Pakistan.A guard gives more reason for hope. ‘‘She’s been writing to her five sisters and five brothers, one of whom Mohd Yusuf, is working in Saudi Arabia. They have accepted her child,’’ he says.Dressed in a bright red sweater, Mobin returns one’s smile but that’s gone in a flash. ‘‘She is also keen to meet her mama,’’ say policemen.The child is silent today. ‘‘She’s been very quiet ever since she came here,’’ says a constable. Perhaps, the media attention is overwhelming. Or is it the memory of her previous visit to Wagah. The last time she came to the border post with her mother two years ago, Pakistani authorities had turned her away.May be, that’s why she looked scared when she made the final passage today.
