India, April 26 -- The Indian government's diktat on the deportation of Pakistani nationals from India following the Pahalgam terror attack has rekindled hope for Nadir Karim Khan. The 65-year-old Pakistani leather merchant has been trying to return to his family in Karachi for 18 months; instead, he's been held hostage by a ton of bad luck, a bunch of red tape, and a prison sentence for staying illegally in India.

For more than six months, Khan's home has been the MRA police station near Crawford Market, where he whiles away his time serving tea to the officers, and staring blankly into space when he's not looking at pictures of his family on his cell phone. If the Indian government's determination to deport Pakistani nationals helps cu...