Deportation fear looms over families despite temporary relief from court

Three families are living on the brink as the court has granted them temporary relief in different cases against their deportation to Pakistan after recent tensions between the two countries.

People against whom deportation orders have been issued, include Minal Khan, wife of a CRPF constable Munir Ahmed of Jammu district. They got married in March this year through online mode.

Another woman, Sariya Kauser, got married in Poonch in 1984 and has three children, who are also married. She was among those who were taken to Amritsar for deportation, but the last-minute court order rescued her from being sent to Pakistan.

However, the most surprising case is that of the nine siblings, one of whom is a constable in the J&K Police — Iftikhar Ali. All nine siblings were born in Pakistan. Their parents were resident of Salwa village in Mendhar of Poonch, but had shifted to the neighbouring country during the mid-1960s. They, however, returned to their native village in 1983 along with nine children — five daughters and four sons.

Iftikhar, who is posted at Katra, was dismissed years ago after a complaint was lodged against him that he is a Pakistani national. However, a court ordered his reinstatement although he was never promoted.

All three families have been granted relief by the court.

Talking to The Tribune, son of Sariya Kauser, Intezar Kazmi, said even as his mother was brought back to Poonch, there remains a lingering fear that the authorities might send her to Pakistan.\/He said that his family had no relatives in Pakistan. “We are worried as to where will our mother go if she was sent to Pakistan. She has her entire family in India,” said Kazmi.

He further questioned how a person staying in India for decades was never asked to leave and suddenly becomes a “trouble for the country”.

Interestingly, the case of Minal Khan was presented in the High Court of J&K and Ladakh by Advocate Ankur Sharma, who is also a spokesperson of the BJP.

Sharma later faced criticism on social media, where users said that the saffron party was claiming to deport Pakistanis from India, while its members were supporting them to stay in the country. However, Sharma told The Tribune that he presented his argument only on the basis of the government policy.

It has been learnt that Minal had applied for long-term visa after her visitor visa expired. She had stayed back in Jammu as she was waiting for the issuance of her long-term visa. However, her deportation orders were issued as she had neither visitor visa nor LTV at the time, but has now got temporary relief from the High Court, said her advocate.