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Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
To Attari and back, J&K constable: I would rather die than go to Pakistan
On April 26, when a senior officer called him to say that he and his eight siblings had to leave India because they were considered Pakistan citizens, Iftkhar Ali felt as if someone had cut the ground from beneath his feet. Having served 27 years in the J&K Police service and knowing no other home, he told his shocked superior officer he would 'kill himself' rather than cross the border. 'Like you, I too had only heard of Pakistan,' Iftkhar, a 45-year-old constable from Salwah village in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, tells The Indian Express now. 'I have everything — my wife and children, relatives, friends, and colleagues — here. There's nothing in Pakistan.' On April 29 — three days after he and his eight siblings were issued a 'Leave India' notice in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack — the Jammu and Kashmir High Court stayed it, ordering the central government and the J&K administration against forcing them to leave India. The order came on the back of a petition that he filed in the High Court against the notice. As a result, Ali and his eight siblings — older brothers Zulfqar Ali, 49, Mohammad Shafiq, 60, and Mohammad Shakoor, 52; and his sisters Shazia Tabsam, 42, Kouser Parveen, 47, Naseem Akhter, 50, Akseer Akhtar, 54, and Nashroon Akhter, 56 — have now returned to the village. Although he got a notice, neither his wife nor his three minor sons got one 'because they were all born in India, they didn't get the notice', he says. The eighth of nine children, Ali was two years old when his parents, Faqur Din and Fatima Bi, brought him to the erstwhile state of J&K. In their petition, Iftikhar and his siblings said that their father Faqur Din was a 'hereditary state subject' and Indian citizen according to the 1955 Citizenship Act. They also said he owned about 17 acres of land and a house at Salwah village, adding that their father was considered a permanent resident of J&K 'even at the time of enactment of the J&K Constitution in 1957'. A permanent resident certificate was a document previously issued under the Jammu and Kashmir Permanent Resident Certificate (Procedure) Act, 1963, to prove one's permanent residence in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. A feature under the special status offered to the state, the certification ceased to exist after the Article 370 in 2019. According to the petition, what cast shadows over their citizenship is that during the 1965 war, Pakistan took over areas along the Line of Control, including the place where Faqur Din and his wife Fatima Bi lived with children, then three. As a result, the family spent years at a camp in Tralkhal in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, during which time the couple had six more children. Locals in the area claim Faqur Din and his family returned to Salwah in 1983. Posted in Katra since earlier this year, Iftkhar joined the state police in the late 90s — when militancy was at its peak. His first posting was in 1998 at Deval Police Post in Reasi district's Gulabgarh area, he says. It was his senior officer from Mendhar police station in Poonch who called him about the 'Leave India' notice that the Poonch Deputy Commissioner had issued. 'On hearing myself being dubbed as a Pakistani national, I was shocked,' he says. 'I told them I would rather die than put my signature on it, but I was advised to do so, and eventually, I approached the HC.' Earlier this week, even while his siblings were taken to the Attari border, he approached the High Court with his brother Zulfikar. Then, the two brothers, by then taken into police custody and kept at Belicharana, waited for the court ruling. In his order Tuesday, Justice Rahul Bharti said 'prima facie a case is made out' from the revenue papers that their counsel had submitted that they were not Pakistani citizens. The court also asked the Deputy Commissioner of Poonch to file an affidavit recording details of any property that the petitioners held, either in their own name or in reference to their late father Faqur Din. This came after the siblings claimed that the Faqur Din and his family did not enter India stealthily, but had, soon after came back, filed a petition in the High Court seeking that they be considered Indian citizens. 'The petition was, however, rejected by court with the observation that the right to citizenship can be decided only by an appropriate authority — the central government,' the siblings' petition in the court said. According to the family, they finally became state subjects — Iftkhar in 1997 and his siblings in 2000. Safeer Choudhary, an activist who protested against the deportation, says Iftkar's parents are buried at Salwah and all his family members are 'well-known for their pro-India stance'. 'During the last over three decades of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, none of them have ever been called by police or Army for questioning even on suspicion,' he claims. For Iftkhar, it is the support he got from the J&K Police force during this 'trying time' that he most appreciates. Ever since his return, there's been a steady stream of visitors at home, all offering their good wishes, the policeman says. 'I will always remain grateful to them for that,' he says.
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First Post
02-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
The tale of Accenture employee whose deportation to Pakistan was halted by the Supreme Court
Ahmed Tariq Butt, a Bengaluru-based professional working with Accenture, claimed that he and his family were reportedly issued deportation notices to Pakistan despite being Indian citizens with valid passports and Aadhaar cards. The Supreme Court has ordered verification of their documents and asked that 'no coercive action' be taken against them until then read more As tensions rise between India and Pakistan following the recent Pahalgam terror attack, the government has ramped up efforts to identify and deport Pakistani nationals from the country as part of a flurry of diplomatic restrictions. Among those caught in the sweeping crackdown was Ahmed Tariq Butt, a Bengaluru-based professional working with Accenture. Along with five family members, Butt was reportedly ordered to go to Pakistan despite being Indian citizens with valid passports and Aadhaar cards. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Things took a sharp turn on Friday when the Supreme Court stepped in, asking for verification of his documents and demanded that 'no coercive action' be taken against Butt, who has an MBA from the Kerela's IIM Kozhikode, till then. But how did Butt and his family get a deportation notice in the first place? And what did the top court say on the matter? Here's a closer look 'How did you come to India?' During the hearing on Friday morning, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N K Singh asked Butt about his background and how he came to India. Ahmed Tariq Butt told the court that he and his family, his parents, elder sister, and two younger brothers, were residents of Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir until 1997. His father moved to Srinagar that year and surrendered his Pakistan passport to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, after which he applied for and secured an Indian passport. The rest of the family joined him in 2000. Butt said he and his siblings studied at a private school in the city. He also told the court that he holds an Indian passport and an Aadhaar card. His counsel added that only one family member had Pakistani roots, as he was born there. But he had surrendered his Pakistani passport long ago, the advocate said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Ahmed Tariq Butt said his father surrendered his Pakistan passport to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court when he came to Srinagar in 1997. Image for Representation. Reuters Despite these documents, Butt claimed that a Home Ministry order served last week directed his entire family to leave the country. The notice, he alleged, falsely stated that they had entered India on visas and overstayed. Seeking urgent intervention, Butt informed the court that his 'father, mother, sister and a younger brother were arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police on April 29 at around 9 pm illegally' and 'were taken to the India-Pakistan border on April 30 at around 12.20 pm,' as reported by The Indian Express. He further stated that they 'are at present being forced to leave India from the border' and that 'deportation is imminent even though they are Indian nationals'. This cannot be a precedent for future cases: SC After issuing a stay on Ahmed Tariq Butt's deportation, the Supreme Court made it clear that the order should not be treated as a precedent in similar matters. The bench emphasised that the decision was made based on the 'peculiar facts and circumstances' of the case. This clarification holds significance at a time when several individuals, many with Muslim names, have reportedly been asked to leave the country following visa cancellations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In Butt's case, the court also directed him to approach the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh if he was not satisfied with the final outcome. Attari-Wagah border shut In the wake of the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 civilian lives in Kashmir, India issued a series of countermeasures, including ordering a shutdown of its border with Pakistan and issuing 'Leave India' notices to all Pakistani nationals residing in the country. As part of the sweeping crackdown, all visas for Pakistani citizens, except for long-term stay permits and those granted to Pakistani Hindus, were cancelled, and they were directed to leave India by April 30. Following this directive, 125 Pakistani nationals exited India through the Attari-Wagah border on Wednesday, bringing the seven-day total of departures to 911. In addition, 15 Indian citizens holding Pakistani visas also crossed over, taking the overall count of such departures to 23. As part of the sweeping crackdown following the Pahalgam terror attack, all visas for Pakistani citizens, except for long-term stay permits and those granted to Pakistani Hindus, were cancelled, and they were directed to leave India by April 30. File image On the entry side, 152 Indian nationals and 73 Pakistanis with valid long-term Indian visas arrived in the country through the Amritsar border. These arrivals pushed the totals to 1,617 Indian returnees and 224 Pakistani entrants since the announcement. However, the deportation process hit a roadblock when Pakistan allegedly closed the Wagah border post, causing distress among deported Pakistani citizens who were left stranded in the scorching heat while trying to return home. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It appeared that Pakistani authorities did not open the gate to receive their citizens. But Pakistan's Foreign Office dismissed this, stating that its borders are open to receiving its citizens. In addition to cancelling visas, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, closed its airspace to Pakistani flights, and banned the social media accounts of Pakistani nationals. With input from agencies
Mint
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Pahalgam terror attack: SC protects family from deportation to Pakistan, asks authorities for document verification
The Supreme Court on Friday directed authorities to refrain from taking coercive measures, including deportation to Pakistan, against six family members accused of overstaying their visa, until their identity documents are verified, as reported by news agency PTI. The individuals, originally from Kashmir, have a son working in Bengaluru. They are facing possible deportation in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, PTI reported. Noting the humanitarian aspect of the case, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh allowed the family to seek relief from the Jammu and Kashmir High Court if they are dissatisfied with the outcome of the identity document verification process, PTI reported. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by Ahmed Tarek Butt and his five family members, who alleged that they were detained and taken to the Wagah border for deportation to Pakistan, despite holding valid Indian documents. The bench observed that, in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the Centre had issued a notification on April 25 revoking the visas of Pakistani nationals, with certain exceptions mentioned in the order, and had set a specific timeline for their deportation. Earlier on Wednesday, a total of 125 Pakistani nationals departed India via the Attari-Wagah border, bringing the total number of Pakistanis leaving the country to 911 in the past week. Additionally, 15 Indian citizens holding Pakistani visas also crossed into Pakistan, raising the total number of such exits to 23, PTI reported. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by Ahmed Tarek Butt and his five family members, who alleged that they were detained and taken to the Wagah border for deportation to Pakistan. On the other hand, 152 Indian nationals and 73 Pakistani nationals with long-term Indian visas entered India through the same border point in Amritsar, Punjab. This brings the total number of such entries to 1,617 for Indian nationals and 224 for Pakistani nationals. (With inputs from agencies) Key Takeaways The Supreme Court's ruling underscores the importance of verifying identity documents before deportation. The case highlights the impact of geopolitical tensions on individual families, particularly following significant terror incidents. Humanitarian aspects are crucial in legal proceedings involving immigration and deportation.
Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
J&K cop, whose deportation HC stayed, returns to Poonch
Jammu and Kashmir High Court halts deportation of constable and his siblings to Pakistan. Family, permanent residents of the former state, brought back from Attari and held at Jammu district police lines. Court issues notice to Union of India and J&K administration, orders them to leave UT as they are not Pakistani citizens. Next hearing on May 20.
Hindustan Times
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
CRPF jawan's Pakistani wife gets last-minute relief from deportation, returns to Jammu
Minal Khan, a Pakistani national married to a CRPF jawan, was granted last-minute relief from deportation by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Wednesday. Minal, who had married Munir Khan online, had left Jammu for the Attari border when her lawyer informed her about the court's decision. 'Munir Ahmed, who is a CRPF constable, got married to Pakistani national Meenal Khan, 2.5 months ago. She came to India on a visiting visa and then applied for a long-term visa,' advocate Ankush Sharma told ANI. '…She had appeared for the interview for a long-term visa, and positive recommendations were sent to the MHA for giving her a long-term visa.' After India revoked visas of Pakistani nationals, barring a few under special categories, in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Minal was sent back from Jammu for deportation to her country of origin. Also Read | 'Gave birth 14 days ago': Pakistani woman pleads against her deportation "The Pahalgam attack happened, and she didn't have a long-term visa, so she was sent to Attari border...a case was filed in the J&K High Court, and the hearing took place, the court passed an interim that, she was sent back to Jammu. She reached Jammu yesterday around 3am..," Sharma told ANI. Earlier, Minal had urged the Indian government to let families stay together. Also Read | Rahul Gandhi demands martyr status for Pahalgam attack victims "We should be allowed to stay with the family," PTI quoted Minal Khan as saying. "We condemn the barbaric killings of innocents in the attack. They should be punished severely." As many as 786 Pakistani nationals, including 55 diplomats, their dependents and support staff, besides eight Indians with Pakistani visa, have left India through the Attari-Wagah border crossing in the last six days following a government order in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, PTI reported, citing officials. A total of 1,465 Indians, including 25 diplomats and officials, besides 151 Pakistani citizens with long-term Indian visas have crossed over to India from Pakistan through the international border crossing located in Punjab since April 24. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on April 25 called up the chief ministers of all states and asked them to ensure that no Pakistani stays in India beyond the deadline set for leaving the country.
