Deportation of Pakistani nationals begins; Mehbooba urges reconsideration

A senior official confirmed that the deportation process is underway, with over 50 individuals already sent to the Wagah border in Punjab. Sources said around 100 Pakistani nationals have been identified for deportation, including those whose visas have expired and who were residing in Jammu and Kashmir.

In Bandipora district, authorities issued public notices through local newspapers, instructing 20 women to leave the country. These developments have cast uncertainty over the fate of wives of former Kashmiri militants who returned to the Valley in 2010 under a special rehabilitation programme.

Last week, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who heads the Home Department in the Union Territory, chaired a meeting and directed officials to take "appropriate and necessary action to ensure the exit of Pakistani nationals from J&K."

On Tuesday, reports emerged that Shameema Akhtar, the mother of Shaurya Chakra awardee Constable Mudasir Ahmad Shaikh—who died in May 2022 while fighting terrorists—was among those listed for deportation. Akhtar, a Pakistani national, is married to a resident of the Valley. However, police sources later clarified that her inclusion was a “mistaken case,” and she is not being deported.

Constable Shaikh was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had visited his residence in Uri, Baramulla, following his death.

With more cases of Pakistani nationals facing deportation emerging, political leaders in Kashmir have urged the government to adopt a more humane approach.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti expressed concern over the government's directive, saying it had “raised serious humanitarian concerns, particularly in Jammu & Kashmir.”

“Many affected are women who came to India 30–40 years ago, married Indian citizens, raised families, and have long been part of our society,” she wrote on X. Mufti appealed to the government to reconsider its decision and adopt a compassionate approach, especially in cases involving women, children, and the elderly.

“Deporting individuals who have lived peacefully in India for decades would not only be inhumane but would inflict deep emotional and physical distress on families who now know no other home,” she added.

CPM leader and MLA MY Tarigami echoed similar sentiments, calling the deportation of women from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir—who came to J&K under the 2010 rehabilitation policy—“inhumane.”

“These women, married to local Kashmiri men, have built their lives here, raising families and living peacefully since their arrival. They have always sought to live as law-abiding citizens, fully integrated into society,” he wrote on X. He added that forcing their deportation “will only disrupt their families and inflict deep mental anguish.”