To General with love, his birth certificate?

A small, single-storey hospital in the heart of New Delhi hopes to give Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf a special gift when he c...

A small, single-storey hospital in the heart of New Delhi hopes to give Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf a special gift when he comes calling here next weekend—his birth certificate.

The only hitch: staff at the Smt Girdhar Lal Hospital in Kamala Market near Connaught Place, where Musharraf was born 62 years ago, are yet to get their hands on that precious piece of paper.

It’s a desperate search that began on March 17 when the 75-year-old maternity home, housed in a haveli that has now been declared a protected building, received three surprise guests—Musharraf’s mother Begum Zarin Musharraf, brother Javed and son Bilal.

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As the stunned staff bustled about, trying to make the visitors feel comfortable—Begum Zarin was brought in on a wheelchair—Javed came up with the unexpected request.

‘‘Begum Zarin provided a few details to start off the search,’’ says Indira Yadav, the hospital’s medical superintendent.

The General’s mother told the staff that her sons, Javed and Pervez, were born in this hospital on July 19, 1941 and August 11, 1943, respectively.

She said their father’s name, Syed Musharraf, was mentioned on the certificate, though she was unsure how she had spelt her own name—Zarin or Zohra. The Begum added that the hospital’s medical superintendent at that time was Dr Jeevan Lata. The details provided, the three guests left, but not before Begum Zarin presented the hospital with a golden clock and a card, saying, ‘‘it is a gift from the President of Pakistan’’.

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Since then, the hospital has been the scene of frenzied activity. First, the staff scoured through the hospital’s own records for the certificates, but failed. According to a staff member, the hospital has preserved records only from 1960. Then, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was roped in. And that’s when the hunt ran into a ‘‘technical hitch’’.

Officials at the Municipal Commissioner’s office realised that the records may be with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), under which the hospital was till the MCD was formed in 1958. The search is now on at the NDMC office, which is in touch with the Pakistan Embassy, too.

Back at the Smt Girdhar Lal Hospital, Yadav and her staff say that if the certificates are not found by April 16, when the General arrives to watch the ODI between India and Pakistan the next day, they will ask the MCD to prepare new ones.

Hopefully, just in time.