- NEW DELHI — 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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?"
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- 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.”
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- Krishan Kumar, another Pakistani visitor, added: “I was
just here visiting relatives, but now I have to go back.”
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- 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.”
