Meerut woman forced to hand over small children to Pakistani husband at Attari border

Meerut (UP): An inconsolable Sana on Monday handed over her two small children, aged three and one, to her Pakistani husband at the Attari border, in the latest incident of families being separated following the central government's decision to cancel the Short-Term Visas of the neighbouring country's citizens residing in India.

Married to a doctor from Karachi, Sana from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh was forced to part with her three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter due to visa regulations and central government directives in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were killed on April 22.

The family members who accompanied Sana said on Tuesday that she was inconsolable after sending her children, both Pakistani citizens, across the border.

After the Indian government revoked the visas of Pakistani nationals, Sana passed on her small children to her husband at the Attari border. The children hold Pakistani passports while Sana remains an Indian citizen.

Breaking into tears, Sana said, "I ask the government, why are mothers being separated from their children? What is my fault?" Sana said she had entered India on a 45-day visa and cannot return to Pakistan now as she has not yet been granted Pakistani citizenship.

She married Bilal, a resident of Karachi, in 2020. She said it may take another four years to obtain Pakistani citizenship.

Saradha police station in-charge Inspector Pratap Singh told PTI, "We informed Sana two days ago that, according to government orders, she must return the children to Pakistan. She has now completed the legal formalities at the border and handed them (children) over (to her husband)." According to the government decision, only Pakistani nationals living in India on Long-Term Visas (LTV) are allowed to stay while those on Short-Term Visas are being repatriated.

Officials said the process of sending back Pakistani nationals had begun following the central government's decision after the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam.