Srinagar, July 1 -- For nearly four decades, Mohammad Khalil Qazi and Arifa Qazi made Srinagar their home. They raised a family, sought a sense of belonging, and fought a legal battle to stay in the city where they were both born.

But on May 9 this year, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh ruled that their time in India had officially run out.

The couple's story began long before their case reached the courtroom.

Mohammad Khalil was born in Srinagar in 1945. As a young child during the turbulence of the India-Pakistan partition, he found himself stranded in Pakistan, separated from his home.

Over time, he became a Pakistani citizen. Arifa, also born in Srinagar, held an Indian passport.

In 1986, she married Mohammad Khalil...