Transit freeze leaves women married across border stranded

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Friday halted Indian women married to Pakistani nationals from crossing into Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border. The action came following the government directive to revoke visas of all Pakistani nationals, prompted by the deadly Pahalgam terror attack.

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While 191 Pakistani nationals, who had been visiting relatives in India, were allowed to return home, Indian citizens, including women with Pakistani spouses, were barred from entering Pakistan. Arun Mahal, Protocol Officer at Attari, reported that 287 Indians returned from Pakistan, but no Indian was permitted to cross in the opposite direction.

Outside the Attari Integrated Check Post, frustration boiled over as Indian Muslim women, married to Pakistani men, pleaded for permission to return to their families across the border. Some even threatened to stage a sit-in after being turned away despite travelling with their Pakistani-born children, who were allowed to proceed.

Among those stranded was Irshad from Bulandshahr (UP), married to a Karachi resident for two decades. Though her daughters, holding Pakistani nationality, were permitted to cross, she was denied passage despite claiming to have applied for Pakistani citizenship, a process still incomplete.

Sabina, a Rajasthan native who married a Pakistani in 2018, stood helpless with her minor son, a Pakistani national, while Wazida, travelling with her two Pakistani children, revealed that her citizenship application had been pending for 10 years since her marriage.

The CCS justified the travel restrictions by pointing to intelligence reports that allegedly tied the Pahalgam attack, which left 26 civilians dead, to handlers based in Pakistan.