Pakistani official takes notice of paralyzed teenager torn apart from mother in India, promises treatment

Arab News

02-05-2025

KARACHI: Kamran Tessori, the governor of Pakistan's southern Sindh province, has taken notice of an ailing Pakistani child who was separated from his Indian mother, Tessori's office said on Thursday, amid tensions between the two neighboring countries.
Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir's Pahalgam that killed 26 people on April 22. Islamabad has rejected the charge. Both countries have since exchanged gunfire in Kashmir, taken diplomatic measures against each other, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut, leaving many in limbo.
Muhammad Ayan, paralyzed after he suffered a gunshot wound to his spine during a gunfight between police and street criminals in Karachi in 2023, was under treatment at New Delhi's Apollo Hospital, when he and his family were forced to leave India, following the Kashmir attack. Ayan's mother, Nabeela, who is an Indian national, could not travel with them.
Arab News this week published a story on the 17-year-old teenager who had to return to the southern Pakistani city of Karachi along with his father, Muhammad Imran, and siblings after being separated from his mother, prompting Governor Tessori to take notice of Ayan's tragedy.
'I will pay all the expenses of the treatment of the disabled child,' Tessori was quoted as saying by his office.
Ayan narrated to Arab News how he got separated from his mother amid tears and sobs.
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'She was separated from us while crying and we also came here with great difficulty, crying,' an emotional Ayan said.
Ayan's father, Imran, had married his maternal cousin, Nabeela, a resident of New Delhi, 18 years ago. Since then, Nabeela had been living in Pakistan on a visa that was intermittently renewed without her ever needing to acquire Pakistan's nationality.
But the suspension of visas meant Imran and his Pakistani children's 45-day medical visa was no longer valid. And Nabeela was eventually left behind in India.
The April 22 assault occurred as tourists enjoyed tranquil mountain views at the popular site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, when gunmen burst out of forests and raked crowds with automatic weapons.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the territory in full but governing separate portions of it. Both countries have two of their three wars over the disputed territory.
Separatist groups have waged an insurgency in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of backing the militants, Islamabad denies it and says it only supports Kashmiris diplomatically and politically.
Imran said he went to India after spending 'every single rupee' with the hope that his son would walk again. However, bilateral tensions between India and Pakistan, and the ensuing atmosphere in India made his family 'very scared.'
'I told them, 'I am married [to her],' I pleaded with them, cried, and showed a lot of humility,' Imran said about his interaction with Indian authorities.
'But they said, 'No, write an exit and leave.''
For Ayan, the shock of being separated from his mother compounded the trauma of his paralysis and incomplete treatment.
'I went for treatment with a hope but that hope shattered because of that accident and then the fact that my mother was not coming with us,' he said.
'I was completely separated from a mother's love. We were far apart; it made me cry.'
In his statement, Governor Tessori said Pakistanis are a proud nation and know how to share each other's pain.
'If India has descended into hostility toward humanity, I will get him treated,' he said.