Pakistani wives of former Kashmiri militants on Tuesday staged protest urging government to give them basic rights.
Scores of aggrieved Pakistani women assembled at Press Enclave and staged protest.
“We just want our travel documents so that we can visit our families in Pakistan. Our parents are there and their tears have dried up waiting for us,” said Saira, one the protestors.
‘Despite our constant requests to the Government of India, we are being ignored. The government must either give us the travel documents to visit our old aged and ailing parents or at least accept us as a citizen of this country,” she added. “We have not committed any crime by marrying Kashmiris. The government has to accept us because our husbands are Kashmiris and if they are the citizen of this country, so are we,” they said.
“There are many such people who got married to the citizens of other countries or have come to some other country and are working here. If government has accepted them, why not us?” asked one of the Pakistani brides.
The distressed women appealed the government to look into the matter as they are living in Jammu and Kashmir for a long time. “We do not want our children or our families to suffer,” they said.
The aggrieved women later marched from Press Enclave Srinagar towards Clock Tower in Lal Chowk but police foiled their march.