Chishti arrives in Karachi; reunites with family after 20 yrs

Karachi, May 17 (PTI) Pakistan's ailing virologist Khalil Chishti reunited with his family on Wednesday after nearly two decades amidst moving and tearful scenes at the Karachi airport where hundreds of people gathered to welcome him. Chishti, who spent 20 long years away from home in India's Rajasthan state including in Jail for 15 months on charge of involvement in a murder, came out of the Jinnah international airport on a wheelchair, looking frail and weak but with his spirits high. "I am going straight to my residence where the first thing I want to do is play with my grandchildren," Chishti, wearing a Jinnah cap, told reporters at the airport. "It is a dream come true for me to meet with my wife, my children and relatives again and I am thankful to the Pakistan and Indian governments for giving me this fresh lease of life," 82-year-old Chishti said. Wiping tears, Chishti's daughter Tariqa said her father was a tired man and would be taken straight to his residence in North Nazimabad which has been lit up to celebrate his return to Karachi. "It is hard to describe our feelings right now. He has comeback home after 20 years. It is a moment my mother and my sisters and brother have dreamt for years now as it has been a long fight for us," she said. Hundreds of people gathered outside the airport to greet Chishti who was garlanded and showered with rose petals as he was brought out of the terminal where he was received by Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri and Mutthaida Qaumi Movement senator Nasreen Jalil and MNA Babar Ghouri. Chishti returned to Pakistan Tuesday night on a special flight sent by President Asif Ali Zardari to Delhi to bring him home. He landed in Islamabad. PTI