Pakistani wives of Kashmiri militants yearn to go back home

Saira Javed gets emotional when she remembers her family in Pakistan; tears trickle down her face during a video conversation with her mother in Karachi.

It has been more than seven years since she last saw her relatives in Pakistan. In 2012, when she moved to Indian-administered Kashmir with her husband, Javed Ahmad, they hoped that the rehabilitation policy for former militants announced by the government at the time — led by Omar Abdullah in 2010 — would pave the way for a better life.

“We all regret that decision to come to India now,” 35-year-old Saira admits. “My husband and I were arrested when we entered Kashmir in 2012. I spent three months behind bars for entering India without valid documents, and my husband more than six months.” to facilitate our return to our home country,” she added.

Last week, scores of Pakistani women, all wives of former militants, protested in the streets of Srinagar demanding the return of their passports and permission to leave India.

Ahmad, 46, and now working as a bus driver, left for Pakistan in 1990. He went to Karachi, acquired refugee status, and married his wife in 2000.

“From my village it was normal for young boys to be killed. My younger brother lost his life. Another relative also fell to the Indian bullets. I left for Pakistan at the age of 16 to save my life,” he said.

“The rehabilitation policy announced by the Omar Abdullah government was very reassuring and a very good gesture in building cross-border trust, but trusting India has proven costly for me.”

According to estimates, nearly 400 families returned to India from various parts of Pakistan between 2012 and 2015, with the government promising them education, employment and financial assistance.