IT was in January 1963, just weeks after the Sino-Indian war, when a lone Chinese surveyor with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army inadvertently wandered into Indian territory.
IT was in January 1963, just weeks after the Sino-Indian war, when a lone Chinese surveyor with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army inadvertently wandered into Indian territory.
Hungry and lost, Wang Qi spotted a vehicle and hailed it down for help. Moments later, he was handed over to the Indian army and thrown into prison after officials accused him of lying about his reasons for straying past India’s borders.
Seven years and several different jails later in 1969, a court granted his release and he was taken to the far-flung village of Tirodi in Madhya Pradesh state. Without exit and entry documents, Wang was forbidden from leaving India to return to his home in China’s Shaanxi Province.
Until Saturday, Feb 11, 2017.
Wang, after his case was highlighted in a riveting tale by the BBC , was finally given the necessary documents to leave and to stay for good in China, if he wished. According to the UK broadcaster, his family were also given Indian passports, allowing them to leave with him.
A tearful homecoming greeted Wang upon his return. An India Today report said as he stepped off an airplane in Xianyang, the 77-year-old Wang, who was accompanied by his son Vishnu, daughter Anita Wankhede, daughter-in-law Neha and grandson Khanak, was greeted with banners and flower bouquets by dozens of relatives and the Chinese media.
The report said his two brothers shed tears when they saw him. They last saw him when they were just teens.
Exhausted, Wang was taken to a nearby city hotel and will be visiting his home village in the next few days.
According to India Today, his relatives await him in the remote village of Xuezhai. They have decorated the family home and local government officials have also directed the authorities to make his old plot of land available to him, should he decide to remain in China.
“We think it is finally up to Wang Qi, if he wants to stay here, we are happy for him to stay here,” Wang Zengwei, an official in the village party committee, told the Indian daily.
