Indian women married to Pakistanis suffer after only their children are allowed to cross border

Indian women married to Pakistani nationals on Sunday created a ruckus at the Attari-Wagah border after being denied entry into Pakistan. However, their children, who hold Pakistani passports, were allowed to cross the border. 

Speaking to reporters at the Pak-India border, a woman who identified herself as Afsheen Jahangir said that she was refused entry into Pakistan, while her four-year-old child, a Pakistani national, was sent into the country. 

Afsheen said that she had married a Pakistani national 11 years ago. “I was here (India) to meet my parents on a one-month visa. Within 48 hours, they [the Indian government] issued a directive to leave the country.”

She lambasted the Indian government for not maintaining a clear policy for those whose children are Pakistani nationals but whose mothers are Indian nationals, saying, “My husband is standing on the other side of the border. I want to go to Pakistan.”

Waving the paper, Afsheen claimed that she is half Pakistani. "Is it my fault that I was not awarded the full nationality," she questioned.

Another mother, who was accompanying her children, said she had been living in Pakistan for the last 20 years. She said, “I have applied for a nationality in Pakistan. My children are Pakistani nationals. I have all the documents of my husband’s nationality. I arrived in India on a one-month visa to meet my parents. After hearing the news, we left the house to enter Pakistan. Why has my entry into Pakistan been barred? What is my fault?”

When questioned whether she would opt to send her children bearing Pakistani nationality into Pakistan, she  asked, “How can I send my children alone via the border?”

Another mother said that she belongs to Delhi and was married in Karachi. However, she was also stopped at the border. “I had arrived in India to see my mother, who is a heart patient. I have four children. My husband and father-in-law are standing at the border in Lahore. I am being denied entry into Pakistan. I have an Indian passport. However, my children have Pakistani passports,” she stated. 

Mothers are being affected as India, following last Tuesday’s attack in Pahalgam in India Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), ordered Pakistani nationals to leave the country within 48 hours.

In response to India’s decision, Pakistan also issued a directive instructing the Indian nationals to leave the country within 48 hours.