India deports hundreds of Pakistani women after Kashmir attack

Telegraph

02-05-2025

India has deported hundreds of Pakistani women from Kashmir in a sweeping operation that separated children from their mothers.
The decision caused alarm across the disputed region, which was plunged into crisis on April 22 when militants killed at least 26 tourists in Baisaran, Indian-administered Kashmir.
The attack, which no group claimed responsibility for, was the worst civilian assault in the country for nearly two decades, and pushed the two nations to the brink of conflict.
India accused Pakistan of backing cross-border terrorism and ordered a countrywide sweep to expel Pakistani citizens, including long-term residents. It closed the Attari-Wagah border crossing in Punjab on April 30.
Amit Shah, the Indian home minister, instructed chief ministers of all states on Friday to ensure that all Pakistanis living in India leave by the designated deadline.
The order was since amended and 'Pakistani nationals may be allowed to exit India till further orders, with due clearances'.
Those caught in the crosshairs include women who arrived in Kashmir more than a decade ago under a government-sponsored 2010 peace and rehabilitation policy, which aimed to allow former militants to return home with their families.
Having built lives there throughout the years, they were forced to leave without their families.
'We feel betrayed,' Mushtaq Ahmad Joo, 44, from Bandipora in northern Kashmir, told The Telegraph. 'They brought us here under the rehabilitation policy, and now they want to deport my wife.'
Nyla Mushtaq, Joo's wife, who was originally from Abbottabad, Pakistan, returned to Indian-controlled Kashmir in 2017 with her husband and two children via Nepal. Joo, a former militant, was ineligible for an Indian passport, while Nyla surrendered her Pakistani one but never received Indian documentation.
Many former militants crossed into Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the 1990s and early 2000s after accepting an offer of peaceful reintegration when they became disillusioned with armed struggle. However, the policy did not officially account for the Pakistani wives they brought back.
Despite the lack of clarity, they entered India through Nepal and settled in Indian-administered Kashmir with their families.
These women and their children have now faced deportation orders.
'Our home is here,' Saira Salim, one the women, said. 'Where else can we go?'
Relations between India and Pakistan rapidly deteriorated in the wake of the April 22 attack, which the US called an act of terrorism.
The government of Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, accused Pakistan of involvement and vowed to punish those responsible. Pakistan denied any links to the assault and warned of retaliation if India takes military action.
On Thursday, the US urged India and Pakistan to work together to de-escalate tensions and avoid an expected clash.