Pakistani Hindu woman may lose son on short-term visa

JAISALMER: Radha Bheel, a 27-year-old Pakistani national living near Jaisalmer, is faced with the prospect of being separated from her toddler son just days after their emotional reunion. And the cause of her despair is India's decision to revoke Pakistani visas with immediate effect in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, with all Pakistani nationals ordered to return to their country by April 27.

Radha's plight is shared by many Pakistani Hindu families in Rajasthan who are on short term visas (STVs). In Jaisalmer alone, a pall of gloom has descended over 1,200 Pakistani citizens on STVs.

As for those on long term visas (LTVs), ASP (CID) Narpat Singh, who's also the Foreign Regional Registration Officer (FRRO), said his office is awaiting orders from home ministry and assured that long-term visa holders need not be concerned for now.

Radha, her husband Raju Ram (30), and their two daughters, aged 8 and 7, arrived in India on an LTV in Feb 2023. However, the couple's son, Ghanshyam, who was then less than two months old, was denied a visa, as were Raju Ram's parents. It took two years for Ghanshyam and his grandparents to finally arrive in India on an STV on April 6.

"I waited for two years to hold my baby but will have to bear parting with him once again," she told TOI, tears streaming down her face.

In Jaisalmer, Dilip Singh Sodha, a refugee who fled Pakistan to escape religious persecution, said, "You may as well shoot us here. If we die here, at least our ashes will be scattered in Haridwar."