THE Scottish MP Mohammad Sarwar is due today to meet Molly Campbell, the 12-year-old girl allegedly abducted from her mother’s care and taken to Pakistan by her father.
The Labour MP for Glasgow Central flew to Lahore last night, having been given assurances by Molly’s family that he will be allowed to talk to the girl in private to establish the true circumstances behind her disappearance last Friday from outside her school in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides.
He hopes his visit will also offer some reassurance to Louise Campbell, 38, Molly’s mother and legal guardian, as to her daughter’s wellbeing.
Molly, also known as Misbah Iram Ahmed Rana, vanished from outside the Nicolson Institute after secretly meeting her older, married sister during morning break. The two sisters then flew with their father, Sajad Ahmed Rana, from Glasgow airport to Lahore, where he lives.
Mr Sarwar agreed to intervene after being approached by Alasdair Morrison, the MSP for the Western Isles, who contacted him because of his connections in Pakistan and his expertise in such matters. Fortuitously, he was already due to fly to Pakistan today to see how money raised in Scotland was being used to regenerate areas devastated by last year’s earthquake.
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The MP met Ms Campbell, Molly’s mother, at Glasgow airport and after 50 minutes of talks agreed to mediate in the “difficult dispute” between her and Molly’s father, a respected businessman whom Mr Sarwar has known personally and as a constituent for 15 years.
Mr Sarwar emphasised that, having talked to family and friends of Mr Rana by telephone, he was convinced there were no plans to force Molly into marriage in Lahore.
“They have given me an absolute assurance that there is no question of a forced marriage. Clearly that would be against the law in Pakistan and they understand there can be serious consequences,” he said.
“I have assured Molly’s mother that I will be talking to family members, her sons and daughters in Lahore.
“The family have assured me that they will give me the access to speak to Molly in private and hopefully I will be able to open up communication channels between Louise Campbell and her children.”
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Mr Sarwar said that he hoped to be able to find a “mechanism acceptable to all the family members” to resolve the crisis.
He said that only after speaking to Molly would he be able to determine whether she had “left Britain happily and was not forced to leave”.
He said Ms Campbell was understandably “very distressed and very upset”.
“Any mother who is separated from her children will feel like this,” he said.
“I have assured her I will do everything I can to help, and she understands that the best solution is that she is close to all four children, where there can be confidence-building and the father and mother have access to all four children.”
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Mr Sarwar is one of Britain’s most senior Asian MPs and has extensive contacts in Pakistan. He has helped in similar investigations in the past, most notably involving the Haq family ten years ago.
He helped to return Rifat Haq, 20, and her sister Nazia, 13, to Scotland after they were kidnapped by their father, taken to Pakistan and forced to marry older cousins.
Mr Morrison, who arranged the meeting between Ms Campbell and Mr Sarwar, said that he did not expect the MP to return to Britain with Molly. “His role is straight down the line, to determine her physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, and the only person who will be in a position to answer that will be Molly herself,” he said.
Molly’s parents married in 1984 but split up in 2000 after Mr Rana confronted his wife about an alleged affair. Molly’s mother left the family home and the children stayed with their father, moving with him to Pakistan in 2002.
However, they returned to Britain for the oldest son’s wedding last year and Ms Campbell successfully applied to the Scottish courts to be Molly’s legal guardian.
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Friends of Mr Rana claim the child begged him to take her to Pakistan when he secretly visited her on Lewis a few months ago and last week.