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SRINAGAR: Around 46 days after a nine-year-old boy from Kargil drowned in Suru river and was swept into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Pakistani authorities Tuesday handed over his remains to Indian officials at Teetwal-Keran crossing in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.Ladakh Police later received the body and transported it to the child’s native village, Hunderman, in Kargil, on Wednesday morning for the last rites, officials said.On March 20, the boy, Zulqarnain Ali, and his friend were playing near the river when they both fell into the water. One body was fished out soon after, but the currents carried the other downstream into PoK’s Baltistan region, officials said.“We appreciate the humanitarian gesture shown by the administrations on both sides. Humanity must always prevail over hostility. At the same time, govts of India and Pakistan, particularly the foreign ministries and military authorities, must establish a formal meeting point at Kargil–Kharmang border,” Kargil Democratic Alliance leader Sajad Kargili said.Kargili cited similar past accidents, where bodies recovered in Kharmang had to be buried there due to the absence of any repatriation mechanism. “For over seven decades, the people of Ladakh and Baltistan have lived with the pain of separation, with thousands of divided families across borders. It is tragic that not only the living remain separated, but even the deceased are often denied a dignified return to their loved ones. Establishing a humanitarian coordination point on the Kargil border is no longer optional — it is a moral and humanitarian necessity,” he added.
