Crossing the border (LoC) to meet parents is not a Bajrangi Bhaijan act. The difference between reel life and real life is taking toll on Iram, a Pakistani woman, whose father is on his death bed in Rawalpindi.
The problem is this: Iram is married to an ex-militant, who is believed to have been a part of the government’s rehabilitation scheme. He returned to India from a training camp in Pakistan controlled Kashmir.
A Last Glimpse of My Ailing Father
30-year-old Iram Sayar only desires to meet her dying father in Rawalpindi. She lives in Shopian in South Kashmir and is struggling to get permission from the government to cross over for a visit.
Iram is married to Sayar Ahmad Lone, who crossed the LoC in 2001 for arms training in Pakistan controlled Kashmir (Azad Kashmir). Sayar returned to the valley after the government announced a return and rehabilitation policy for militants returning from the other side of the LoC.
Iram and Sayar got married in 2006 in Rawalpandi, Pakistan and in 2012, she returned to the valley with her husband and daughter via Nepal.
From Tehsildar to local MLA, she has knocked on all doors and has now pinned her hopes on the state’s first woman Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Mehbooba Mufti is herself a daughter. She should understand the pain of a daughter longing to see her father on a death bed for one last time.Iram Sayar
A square room, with a kitchen to one side is all the couple owns. Falak, 7, is the couple’s only child. Studying in the first grade in a local private School in Shopian, she too wants to visit her maternal home to see her ailing grandfather.
Iram has already been issued an Aadhar Card, but she is looking to acquire other documents from the state government. Twenty days ago, when Iram spoke to her family in Pakistan over the phone, she asked to speak with her father.
She was not allowed to talk to him for a few days. In annoyance, she called her uncle to inquire about her father’s health who told her that he is on his deathbed.
“If you can manage to come here and have a last glimpse of him, he is on ventilator,” the words broke Iram and since then, her eyes have not stopped shedding tears.
I have my family here; my husband my daughter. I have to be here forever but my only wish to see my father before his death. I am his only daughter and he will be waiting for me.
Pleas to the Government
Iram has written to the local MLA, advocate Ajaz Ahmed Mir of the ruling coalition party PDP, to facilitate her visit to Pakistan. During the recent assembly session, Mir asked the government to look into the matter on humanitarian grounds and allow Pakistani women to visit their parental homes.
This is a humanitarian issue. Her father is on the deathbed. The Government should facilitate her visit.Ajaz Ahmed Mir, MLA
Waiting to Become an Indian Citizen
In a letter to the CM, Iram had written, “I am keen to become a citizen of India on any condition whatsoever and get an Indian passport.”
“I request your good self on humanitarian grounds passport or simply a permission/ pass be furnished to the applicant to facilitate the journey upto Rawalpinidi only for the last glimpse of my father,” the letter reads.
“No doubt, because of this rehabilitation policy, I met my family members after a long gap, but at the end it looks like, it was a cruel joke,” Sayar Lone told The Quint. “Jiase be ho mere abu, main apni tasali kay liye aakhri baar (Abu) ko dekhna chahtee hoon”, said Iram.
In April 2014, a woman from Pakistan administered Kashmir who had come to Kashmir along with her husband under the rehabilitation policy for former militants, had set herself ablaze after she was denied permission to visit her family. Saira Begam, wife of Abdul Majid Lone of Bandipora and mother of three had later succumbed to her injuries.
Iram’s is one of the several cases of Pakistani women, married to former Kashmiri militants who have settled in the Valley. Many among them have been desperate to visit their families back in Pakistan, but the Government has been silent on their tragedy for past six years.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has adopted them; they can go to their paternal home after following the legal and formal procedure. Our government does not have any hesitation. Pakistan returnee wives have right to meet their parents. After Pak women have tied their knots with Kashmiri Boys, as per law they are entitled to become citizens of the state. They should apply for a passport.Ramesh Aroora, BJP Leader
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