After India, in the wake of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, announced expulsion notices to Pakistani nationals in the country, one family in Hyderabad is pleading for an exception.
Badar Jahan, 83, is a Pakistani passport holder who has appealed to the Indian government to allow her to stay back in the country on humanitarian grounds. Her daughter, Sameena Fatima, says Jahan was born in India and is now in dire health, both physically and mentally, with no family to care for her in Pakistan. Jahan’s father and brother are both dead, and she has nobody in Pakistan to take care of her, said Fatima.
“She has no one there. She has no support system. I am the only one taking care of her here,” said Fatima. “The people responsible for the Pahalgam attack must be punished. But what is my mother’s mistake?”
Fatima is now urging authorities to make an exception in her mother’s case, saying deporting her in such a vulnerable condition would be inhumane.
Jahan had originally left India in 1983 after a fallout with her husband, eventually acquiring Pakistani citizenship during her time there. According to her family, she returned to India recently due to her deteriorating health and lack of family in Pakistan. Her five children are all Indian citizens.
“I want to stay with my kids, there’s nobody else to take care of me, I want to live here,” said Badar Jahan.
Jahan’s case comes amid a broader decision of cancellation of Pakistani nationals’ visa, following the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack.
The Indian government, in an April 24 missive, suspended visa services to Pakistani nationals with immediate effect, and revoked all existing short-term valid visas issued with effect from April 27.
“Medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals will be valid only till 29 April 2025,” a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs stated.
As per reports, the two women approached the authorities to clarify the status of Jahan’s visa, which Fathima said is long-term one. Since the missive by the Ministry of External Affairs, Jahan and her family do not have any clarity about the situation.
