2 yrs on, Pak woman waits for Indian visa to unite with husband

BARMER: Nehpal Singh Bhati, 27, and his brother, Vikram Singh Bhati, 25, married Pakistani women in Sindh province in January 2019. They stayed back for three months hoping they would return with their brides once their visas are cleared. Little did they realise that their wait will continue two years on.

The visas were initially denied on technical grounds and remained pending as tensions heightened between India and Pakistan after the February 2019 Pulwama attack prompted New Delhi to conduct a cross-border airstrike. Pakistan retaliated and captured an Indian pilot before releasing him two days later. But tensions persisted with regular cross-border firing.

India and Pakistan’s reaffirmation of commitment to a cease-fire along the border held out hope for cross-border couples like the Bhatis who have been forced to live separately for the want of visas.

Vikram Singh Bhati looked forward to being united with his wife as the Centre also promised last month to grant visas to Pakistani women married to Indians. But to his shock, the Indian high commission in Pakistan denied his wife, Nirmala Bai, a visa again. The last thing that he imagined was that Bai’s passport has been blacklisted even as she never visited India before.

Vikram Singh Bhati said he was shocked when he was informed that the visa application of his wife has been rejected.

“I am clueless about the reason why the government has blacklisted the passport of my wife. She never visited India or any other country. Even the passport of my wife was issued after our engagement,” said Singh, who has not even seen his son who was born in Pakistan.

He said on February 9, the Indian high commission asked Pakistani women married to Indians to submit their documents for visas after Union minister Kailash Choudhary, who represents Barmer in parliament, intervened on their behalf.

Choudhary said he has been informed about the blacklisting of Bai’s passport.

“I am looking into the matter. I have been informed that Vikram’s wife never visited India, so there may be some technical error in declaring her passport black-listed. I have asked the officials of the external affairs ministry to sort out this case on humanitarian grounds,” said Choudhary.

Nehpal’s wife was luckier and has been granted a visa.

Barmer and Jaisalmer are located along the border with Pakistan’s Sindh province where a bulk of Pakistani Hindus are concentrated. Cross-border marriages among common in the region.