The Pakistani wives of former Kashmiri militants Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj to grant them citizenship rights.
Addressing a press conference here, the Pakistani bridessaid majority of them have been divorced by their husbands after they travelledto this side of Kashmir since 2010.
Under a rehabilitation policy announced by then ChiefMinister Omar Abdullah, more than 550 militants have returned to Kashmir, manyof them along with their families.
After the eruption of armed struggle here in 90s many thousandsof youth crossed over to other side of LoC for arms training. But many of thempreferred to live a normal life in Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK), marriedthere, had kids and then decided to return under the 2010 policy.
Little did they know that they will remain under the radarof government and their wives and children will face “identity crisis”.
“The moment we landed in Kashmir, we started facinghardships and lot of problems. When we went to schools to get our childrenadmitted there, they were refused admission on the pretext they were born inPaK,” said Toiba, who along with her three children had travelled from northKashmir’s Kupwara district to narrate her ordeal.
She said that after many years, they spent in Kashmir, theirhusbands were denied government and private jobs with the result they divorcedtheir wives.
“Majority of us have been divorced and we are stayingillegally in our in-laws houses. We have nowhere to go. We appeal PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and also the minister for external affairs SushmaSawraj, who being a woman can understand our pain and sufferings, to grant uscitizenship,” she said.
Flanked by another Pakistani bride, Safiya Baji, Toyiba elsethey should be allowed to travel back to PaK so that they can live theirremaining life with some sort of dignity.
Speaking on the occasion Safiya Baji said that they neverknew their life would turn into “hell” after returning to this part of Kashmir.
“We have been moving from pillar to post but nobody ispaying heed to our requests. We hope that government of India and government ofPakistan would act before we decide to take extreme steps to press for ourdemands,” she said.She said they have nowhere to go as the MuslimPersonal Law Board led by Kashmir’s grand mufti, Nasir-ul-Islam has termedtheir stay in their in-laws houses as illegal in the wake of divorce given tothem by their husbands. “Government of India must decide our fate, sooner thebetter,” she said.