Teary-eyed mothers bid adieu to children with little hope of reunion
AMRITSAR, April 29 -- Heart-breaking scenes continued at the Attari-Wagah border check post on the fifth consecutive day with families forced to split and teary-eyed mothers sending their children across, not sure when will they be able to see them again.
Originally from Delhi, Ruksar married a Karachi-based Pakistan national 13 years ago. She came to India after over a decade along with his three children- one daughter and two sons.
Ruksar rushed to the land crossing between the two countries after India ordered all the Pakistani nationals to leave amid strain in bilateral tensions between the two neighbours over the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
An Indian passport holder, Ruksar arrived at the border checkpost in an autorickshaw but wasn't allowed to leave the country.
Restrictions on Indian passport holders left her stranded and she decided to send her children, holding Pakistani passports, across. Pakistan has also imposed a similar diktat.
"There is no one at home to care for my children. My husband, who lives in Karachi, is suffering from kidney disease. He is not well. My family needs me there. I appeal to the government to also allow me to go to Pakistan", teary-eyed Ruksar said. On Monday, 270 persons arrived, while 140 crossed over to Pakistan.
She is not alone, since the exodus started many mothers have been left stranded at Attari after being denied entry to Pakistan.
Indore-based Rubeena, along with her husband, reached the border checkpost to receive her brother Imran Ali, his three daughters and his wife. However, the curb imposed by the Pakistan government meant that Imran Ali's wife, a Pakistan passport holder, couldn't accompany him and her three daughters to India.
"A mother is incomplete without her children and vice versa. How could three daughters live without their mother?" Rubeena said. Rubeena's husband said what happened in Pahalgam is condemnable but the government should not split the families. "The restrictions imposed are not fair," he said.
In another case, Ramsa Jahan also came to the checkpost along with her three children. She travelled from Mysore (Karnataka) to reunite with her Karachi-based husband. However, she was not allowed to leave the country forcing her to send the children alone.
Commenting on the curbs, India-Pakistan peace activist and folklore research academy (FRA) president Ramesh Yadav appealed that children and those on medical visas should be exempted. "Irrespective of the bilateral tension, those who have come for medical treatment, should be given exemption. Similarly, children should not be separated from their father or mother," he said....
To read the full article or to get the complete feed from this publication, please
Contact Us.