it happens

A Case of Braying Guests

Historically, India has halted many Europeans at its borders. Should we be stopping donkeys too?

Avantika Bhuyan | 05 Jun, 2009

The Swiss couple who travelled practically half the world on foot, with their two donkeys and a dog, when a diplomatic glitch brought their tour to a rude halt.

THIS IS A bizarre tale of a harmless expedition gone awry. Swiss couple Celine Overney and Mathias Berovalis had travelled practically half the world on foot, with their two donkeys and a dog, when a diplomatic glitch brought their tour to a rude halt. It all started when they were stopped at the Wagah Border and ordered to leave their donkeys behind. When they asked “why”, they were told about the ‘Schedule Conditions for Importation of Equines into India,’ dated July 2002. According to the schedule, equines shall only be imported through the international airports of Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai and the quarantine officers must be informed by the importer in writing at least 15 days prior to the arrival of the consignment. “It is still pretty confusing to us. We had submitted the passport for animals and their certificates of good health to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. They had given us verbal assurance that there won’t be a problem,” says Celine. According to the couple, no information about the protocol for entry of equines or any ‘import’ forms related to it were given to them.

It was in this blissful oblivion that the couple and their animals made their way to Wagah on 27 January this year. Since then, they have run from pillar to post with applications but nobody’s been able to help them. “We have run in circles from the department of animal husbandry to the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and back. We have been told to go back to Islamabad and repeat the entire procedure,” sighs Mathias. For security reasons, however, the couple doesn’t wish to return to Pakistan. Touched by their tale, the Swiss Embassy in Delhi pitched in by writing to the Central Board of Excise and Customs and the DGFT. The letter, too, got no response.

On 25 March, finally, there was a breakthrough. Sharad Pawar granted them an audience. “He even sent a letter to his commissioner, Mr Bandopadhyay,” says Celine. But, when the couple went to the department of animal husbandry, the officials denied receiving any letter from the NCP chief. “Now Sharad Pawar is on tour for 15 days, so I don’t know if we will get to meet him again,” Celine adds.

Meanwhile their two donkeys, Skander and Karma, are waiting at the Wagah Border. Usually such animals are kept in detention for 30 days, after which the couple could lose claim to the donkeys. “But we have requested the officials to extend the detention period,” says Mathias. The donkeys have been with the couple for nearly a year-and-a-half now and have seen them through the highs and lows of the tour. “We have been through countries like Russia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Iran and Mongolia. Nowhere have we faced such a problem,” says a disheartened Celine. They feel sad that a cherished dream of ending the journey at the Himalayas has come to a brutal halt. We are so close and yet so far, say the couple sadly.