Boy prefers Hindu guardian to Muslim mother

[rug]

Lucknow, Aug 12: "I do not wish to go back to my mother," 12-year-old Akbar says, looking up with love at his foster father Aiku Lal who has brought him up like his own since he found him sobbing and abandoned in a park eight years ago. The boy's mother is fighting a custody battle in the Supreme Court.

Reacting to the petition moved by his mother Shahnaz in the apex court, Akbar told to the media: "I just do not wish to go back to my mother who is not in a position to even continue my studies."

Lal, who has been not just a guardian, friend, philosopher and guide, but also looked after him as a real parent, shivers at the very thought of parting company with the boy. After all, Lal's life has been centred around Akbar since 2003, when he found him in a park overlooking the tiny tea stall that he runs for his livelihood in Lucknow's Qaiser Bagh area.

Significantly, all arguments raised by the mother against her child's stay with a third person belonging to another religion were trashed by the Allahabad High Court.

http://headlinesindia.mapsofindia.com/state-news/uttar-pradesh/boy-prefers-hindu-guardian-to-muslim-mother-88701.html