Polish girl writes to Modi for her return to India

After her mother failed to attract the attention of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, her 11-year-old Polish girl has now written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking their return to India.

Alicja Wanatko, in her handwritten letter to Modi and newly appointed External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, has also invoked her love for Lord Shiva, the Nanda Devi mountain and her fond memories of caring of cows during her stay in Goa.

"I love my school in Goa, the beautiful nature and I am missing my volunteering in the animal rescue centre there where I was helping to take care of cows.

My mum could not re-enter India on 24th March, 2019 after a short trip out and we were told we were blacklisted due to our overstay," Alicja has said in her letter, which was tweeted to Modi and Jaishankar by her mother Marta Kotlarska.

Her mother, Marta, an artist and photographer, who was on a multiple entry B-2 business visa to India, was turned away from the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, after she returned on March 24, from Sri Lanka, where she had gone to renew her Indian visa.

With her daughter studying in Goa, Martha had to wait in Thailand before she was allowed to return to India, pick up her daughter and leave the country within a few days.

The mother and daughter are currently in Cambodia, awaiting a possible return to India, where Alicja claims, she is now rooted in Hinduism and spirituality, and in her letter says "despite not being Indian citizens, we call it home".

"I am now with my mum, but am missing my old life in my favourite country more then ever. I feel so alone away from everything I have always known in India.

I know my animals will be so confused without me and I cannot sleep without feeling angry or upset", she wrote.

Her mother had similarly pleaded to Sushma Swaraj in April where she claimed that she was blacklisted by the Foreigner Regional Registration Office in Chamoli in Uttarakhand for overstaying "due to a misunderstanding".