New Delhi, April 29 Pakistani nationals currently residing in India are returning to their country through the Attari-Wagah border after India revoked their visas in the wake of the terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.
Amid heightened security and unhappy faces, dozens of Pakistani nationals gathered at the Attari border in Amritsar on Tuesday morning to cross over before the government-imposed deadline of April 30 ends.
BSF personnel are checking the passports of Pakistani nationals at the Attari border. Vehicles are being allowed past the barricades for immigration clearance before proceeding towards Pakistan.
Many of them, who had been living in India for years, expressed deep sorrow both over the terror attack and the impact it had had on their personal lives.
"I came here to settle in India, but now my visa has expired, and I have no option but to leave," said Vijay Kumar, whose family had hoped to make a new life in India. "What the terrorists did, killing innocent people, was absolutely wrong."
Another Indian national, Nazakat Hussain, shared his emotional dilemma: "I am waiting at the border as my daughter is coming from Pakistan. She was married there a year ago. My wife and I attended the wedding. What happened in Pahalgam was a tragedy. What fault did those victims have?"
Lal Chand, who had come to India for religious rites, said, “I came here for an asthi visarjan (immersion of ashes), but now I must return.”
Krishan Kumar, another Pakistani visitor, added: “I was just here visiting relatives, but now I have to go back.”
A deeply emotional Iram, a Pakistani woman married to an Indian man, said, “It’s been 10 years since my marriage. I came from Delhi with my husband and children. Now I’m being forced to leave them behind. What the terrorists did was wrong, but families like ours are paying the price.”
Samreen shared the same sentiment, saying, “What the terrorists did was nothing short of a crime against humanity, but the consequences are being borne by innocent families like ours.”
Shahbaz, who accompanied his wife to the border, said, “I came from Delhi to drop my wife. We’ve been married for 10 years. What happened in Pahalgam was tragic. I urge the Indian government to consider the plight of families like ours.”
As India tightens its stance on cross-border terrorism, Pakistani nationals continue to leave before the deadline ends.
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