Lahore HC gives Pak 30 days to decide Kiran’s fate
ISLAMABAD/HOSHIARPUR:: The Lahore high court on Saturday directed the interior ministry to decide within 30 days the fate of Kiran Bala, alias Amna Bibi, a pilgrim from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district who converted to Islam, married a Lahore-based man and moved the court for citizenship and visa extension.
The woman, in an audio clip, has defended her decision of coming to Pakistan. “Had I told my parents or brother, they would have never allowed me to come here. So, I took the pilgrimage route”, she said.
Talking to mediapersons outside the Lahore high court, Kiran also claimed that she doesn’t have any children (in India). “I had shown the children of my ‘khala’ (sister) as mine just to get visa. Single woman in India is not allowed to travel alone. She must be accompanied by her father, husband or father”, she said.
The interior ministry has been told to take a call on whether she is eligible for the six-month extension as per her application.
According to the local law, Kiran can now stay in Pakistan for a month, and if granted the six-month extension, she could be eligible for grant of citizenship. Local media has reported that a treaty between India and Pakistan allows citizens of either country to attain the others’ nationality after seven years.
Kiran would have to renew her visa every six months for seven years, and if there are no complaints of law or Constitutional violations, then she can become a Pakistani national, her lawyer pleaded. In her plea, she stated that she married the Pakistani national on her own accord and wanted to live in the country. Kiran’s lawyer told the media that the couple was in touch with each other for a long time on social media. He revealed that Kiran’s husband Azam had arrived from Saudi Arabia this month only.
Back home, Kiran’s in-laws are perturbed over her claims. The family showed birth certificates, Aadhaar cards and ration card to establish that the three children actually belonged to her.
I had to come here (in Pakistan) as my love was here. Whatever I did was for ‘mohabbat’ (love). If I am guilty, punish me and if I am right, lend me help. KIRAN BALA, ALIAS AMNA BIBI , Hoshiarpur pilgrim who married a Pak man
The Sikh jatha returned after visiting Sikh holy shrines in Pakistan on Saturday but without one of its members, Kiran Bala, now Amna Bibi, who embraced Islam and married a Lahore man.
The 717-member jatha, led by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) executive member Gurmeet Singh Booh, left for Pakistan on April 12 to celebrate Baisakhi at Gurdwara Panja Sahib.
Bala, a Sikh woman from Garhshankar in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, who was part of the jatha, went missing while on a pilgrimage and later it was found that she married a Muslim on April 16. She was married to a mechanic, Narinder Singh, who died in a road accident in 2013, and has left behind her three children, aged 6, 8 and 12, with whom she lived at her in-laws’ home here.
It was being said that the Pakistani authorities might deport her as her visa was to expire on Saturday, but following the Lahore high court direction to the interior ministry to decide on her application for Pakistani citizenship and extension to her visa in 30 days, she was allowed to stay there.
“After celebrating the foundation day of the Khalsa Panth, we went to Nankana Sahib, the birth place of Guru Nanak, on April 15 and stayed there for two days. The next day, we paid obeisance at Gurdwara Sacha Sauda and then visited Sikh shrines in Lahore. On April 19, we visited Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Narowal,” said Booh on arrival at the railway station.
When asked about Kiran Bala, he said: “There was tight security arrangement at Gurdwara Panja Sahib and it was not possible for anyone to flee. But the pilgrims got relaxation on arriving at Nankana Sahib. We learnt about her move when we reached Lahore.”
Booh also endorsed Pakistan’s clarification on accusations made by India that “the Sikh pilgrims were denied consular access in Pakistan”.