Make us Indian citizens or deport: Pak wives of Kashmiri ex-militants

Srinagar, July 12

Pakistani wives of former Kashmiri militants, who returned from across the Line of Control under a rehabilitation scheme, appealed to the central and state governments on Friday that they be either granted Indian citizenship or deported.

“We are a total of 350 women...we should be made citizens here as is the case with the women who marry men in any country. We appeal the government of India and the state government to either grant us passport or travel documents or deport us,” one of the women, Taiba, a resident of Abottabad, told reporters here.

The women sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Jammu and Kashmir Governor SP Malik as well as Pakistani premier Imran Khan to end their plight.

They appealed to the United Nations and human rights organisations across the world to take up their cause with India and Pakistan.

The women alleged that the state government was denying them travel documents to visit their families in Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The women have held protests earlier as well to impress upon the government to meet their demands.

In 2010, the then Jammu and Kashmir government led by Omar Abdullah had announced a rehabilitation policy for former Kashmiri militants, who had crossed over to Pakistan from 1989 to 2009 and had designated four points--Wagah-Attari, Salambad, Chakan Da Bagh and the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi--for their return.

The Nepal route was approved unofficially.

Hundreds of people, who had crossed the Line of Control for arms training, returned along with their families through the Nepal border till 2016 after which this policy was discontinued by the Centre. PTI