Sharbat Gula’s repatriation request accepted

ISLAMABAD: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has accepted the request of Nat Geo famed Afghan Girl, Sharbat Gula, for repatriation to Afghanistan, ARY News reported.

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had last month on 26th arrested the green-eyed lady from the north-western city of Peshawar for forgery of a Pakistani identity card. Later, she was sentenced to imprisonment for 15 days  with a fine of Rs110,000

ARY News reporter Sajjad Haider said her sentence would come to an end on November 09 following which she would be deported to her country of origin.

Earlier, she had requested for permission to stay in Pakistan as an Afghan refugee until her medical treatment was completed, however she submitted another application later requesting to let her go back to Afghanistan.

Who is Sharbat Gula?

Well-known photographer Steve McCurry took unquestionably the most iconic picture of all times in December 1984 at a refugee camp situated on the edge of Peshawar.

The image starred for the magazine cover of National Geographic in June 1985 and remained a mystery for the following 17 years.

For many, her photo has been close to Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and so, National Geographic made a documentary on her life called the ‘Mona Lisa of Afghan war’.

McCurry later joined a crew from National Geographic Television & Film to find for her and hoped to see her alive again.

They showed her very photograph across the refugee camp in Pakistan where McCurry had captured her as a schoolgirl. Sharbar Gula was discovered by National Geographic in 2002.