Pakistani nationals continue to return home through Attari-Wagah border in Punjab

Pakistani nationals visiting India continued to return home through the Attari-Wagah land route in Punjab’s Amritsar on Friday, after the Centre set a 48-hour deadline for them to leave the country in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.

However, a few women married in Pakistan but possessing Indian passports alleged that they were facing problems in going back, despite carrying the required documents.

They said they had come to meet their relatives in India but had to return after the government set the 48-hour deadline for Pakistani nationals to leave the country.

Twenty-six people, mostly tourists, were killed and several injured when terrorists opened fire at a meadow near the popular tourist town of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Friday afternoon.

The Centre on Wednesday announced a raft of measures, including expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post, in view of the cross-border links to the Pahalgam attack.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Pakistani nationals will not be allowed to travel to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme (SVES) and any Pakistani national currently in India under the scheme had 48 hours to leave the country.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was announced at the meeting that the integrated check-post (ICP) at Attari will be closed immediately and those who crossed over to Pakistan with valid documents may return through that route before May 1.

The Centre on Thursday announced revoking all visas issued to Pakistani nationals from April 27 and advised Indian nationals residing in Pakistan to return home at the earliest as tensions between the two neighbours escalated following the Pahalgam attack.

It also announced suspending visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect.

Pakistani nationals continued to flock to the Attari-Wagah border on Friday.

A woman, married in Karachi, said she had come to Delhi for 15 days to meet her mother, who is a heart patient.

She alleged that she was not being allowed to go back.

“I am not being allowed to go back. My husband and father-in-law are waiting for me on the other side of the Wagah border," Shaniza, who holds an Indian passport, told reporters at Attari.

Another woman, who came to India with her two children, also demanded that she be allowed to return to Pakistan.

“I have an Indian passport and my two children have Pakistani passports. We have shown all the documents, my marriage certificate but they are not ready to listen to us and are saying that they will not allow Indian passport holders to cross over," she claimed.

“I am married there. How do I take my children back home?" she asked.

Another woman, Arooda Imran, who was visiting India along with her two daughters, also demanded that she be allowed to return to Pakistan.

She said she got married in Pakistan 20 years ago and has been living there ever since. “I have already applied for nationality there. My daughters are Pakistani nationals. I have all the required documents," she said.

Imran, who hails from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, had come to meet her parents.

Another woman, Rabia, who hails from Punjab’s Malerkotla, said she came to India two months ago to meet her parents.

She got married in Pakistan three years ago.

Another woman, Afshin Jahangir, who holds an Indian passport, said she should be allowed to go back to Pakistan.

“I will consume poison here. We are being stopped," she said.

Jahangir, who hails from Jodhpur, said she had come to India to meet her parents.

“I have to cross the border today at any cost or else I will stage a protest here," she told reporters.

“I have a visa and I am going back home," she said.

She said she came to India for 45 days.

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