Wang Qi, an ex-Chinese Army surveyor who got stuck in India for 54 years, is still longing for home. (Photo : Twitter)
A sad story of separation and yearning for home defines the life of Chinese Army surveyor Wang Qi, whose peculiar circumstances involved being trapped inside India for five decades, amid a web of diplomatic and bureaucratic hurdles involving both China and India.
The end of the Sino-Indian War in 1963 saw Wang's life turned for the worse--he has since been held by Indian authorities after losing his way over India's border. For 54 years, he has not lost his yearning to return to his family in China's Shaanxi Province.
Mired in poverty, Wang's decision to join the People's Liberation Army in 1960 was borne out of his education in surveying, for which he was tasked to build roads during the border conflict that spurred the Sino-Indian War in 1962.
Yet, as the war between China and India ended, Wang found himself entangled in both countries' diplomatic mess, as Indian officials accused him of intrusion into India's borders as well as providing them with a wrongful account as to why he ended up crossing the Indian border in the first place.
But Wang, who is now over 80 years old, only has a simple story to tell about his unfortunate situation: "I had gone out of my camp for a stroll but lost my way. I was tired and hungry. I saw a Red Cross vehicle and asked them to help me. They handed me over to the Indian army," he said in a BBC interview.
Nonetheless, Wang sought to make the most out of his life in India. He became known by his Indian name Raj Bahadur, married a local named Sushila and formed his own family with her, and sought for various ways of livelihood.
Locals describe Wang as an honest and hardworking man, although his desire to achieve a good life in India has always been hampered by his complicated status. At one point, he was beaten up by the police for not giving in to bribery while running his own business.
Wang, however, remains eager to come back home to China. As the years kept him rooted in India, he wrote several letters back home, getting pictures in return alongside letters from his mother, who passed away in 2006 waiting for him.
Numerous attempts to procure official papers from both Chinese and Indian authorities, made possible through the help of relatives and friends, have yet to result to Wang's homecoming, what with the complexities involving the bureaucratic side of his situation.
Whether Wang's return to China is forthcoming remains a question unanswered by the current circumstances, although the old man remains hopeful that he'll get to see the remaining members of his family, without leaving his own in India.
Watch BBC's feature on Wang's life as uploaded by user Huh Bub on YouTube below:
