Tariq Nabi Baht
Srinagar, Feb 21 : The Pakistani wives of former militants of Jammu and Kashmir Monday yet again staged a protest demonstration along with their children, demanding citizenship or travel documents.
The protesters were carrying placards seeking justice.
The female protesters marched through the city center and assembled at Press Enclave Srinagar to register their protest.
They appealed to the Prime Minister and Home Minister of India to send them back to Pakistan or provide them citizenship.
They were chanting slogans like “We want Justice”, “Humari mangey poori karo”, and “Hum kya chahte wapsi” in their favor.
“We have been registering protest frequently but nobody listens to us. We have been suffering immensely,” they said.
They said that the career of their children is insecure, in view of delays in the citizenship and travel documentation process.
“We have been invited here under a government policy. What’s our fault and why are we made to suffer. Please send us back to Pakistan, give us our travel documents or grant us citizenship,” one of the protesting women told news agency Kashmir News Trust.
Another woman said that “how long shall we protest now, and what’s our mistake.” She said, “we are caged here, and why is the government not responding to our pleas.”
Pertinently, as per government data, there are around 400 Pakistani women who came to Kashmir with their husbands, under the rehabilitation policy announced during the former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s tenure in 2010. (KNT)