India's deportations split families after Kashmir attack

DW (English)

Hundreds of Pakistanis living in India were deported in haste after New Delhi blamed Pakistan for an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26. Seven months on, many still don't know if they can return.

Transcript

00:00Moments like this have become part of daily life for this family.

00:07Mohammed Shahbaz is on video call with his wife, Iram, who was deported to Pakistan

00:13following the deadly attack in Kashmir in April this year.

00:17It's now the only way the family comes together, through a screen.

00:21And their nine-year-old son, Almir, is bearing the weight of that separation.

00:26How is this our fault? You tell me, what is our role in the tragedy that happened in Kashmir?

00:31What has this child done wrong? Our child is being punished for that incident.

00:36My son is being deprived of his parents, his family.

00:39Iram now lives in Pakistan, separated from her husband and child for the past eight months.

00:46I'm just surviving. I pass my time day by day. My life has no meaning.

00:54A mother's child is the centre of her life. I can't express my emotions in words.

01:01In April, extremists killed 26 civilians in Indian part of the disputed Kashmir region.

01:08India blamed Pakistan for the attack, accusing its neighbour of sponsoring cross-border terrorism.

01:14As part of its response, Delhi cancelled the visas of almost all Pakistani citizens

01:21and gave them just days to leave.

01:25Families scrambled to comply.

01:27And emotional scenes like this unfolded at the mainland crossing between the two countries.

01:33Shahbaz captured on video the last moments at the border,

01:37before Iram was separated from him and their son.

01:41The moment I left my son, I couldn't understand anything. I felt numb.

01:45Why we have to be separated like this? I just couldn't understand why.

01:50At home, Shahbaz walks us through memories of a life they once shared.

01:56They got married in 2014.

01:59Iram came from Pakistan to India on a long-term visa and they built their home together.

02:04In March 2020, Iram travelled to Pakistan to visit her family.

02:09Days later, the Covid lockdowns closed the borders.

02:13Her Indian visa expired while she was away in Pakistan.

02:17For five years, Shahbaz kept applying for a new Indian visa for his wife.

02:23But every request was rejected.

02:25Then in April this year, the approval finally came.

02:29Iram returned to Delhi on April 17.

02:32Just 12 days later, after the Kashmir attack, she was ordered to leave India again.

02:38When you met your wife after such a long time and then are separated again,

02:43you cannot imagine that pain.

02:45Sometimes you can't explain it in words.

02:47I wouldn't want to wish this on anyone.

02:49For Shahbaz, the hardship doesn't end there.

02:52He says any association with Pakistan attracts suspicion

02:56in a country that waves its neighbour as an enemy state.

03:00And for his son, that suspicion has real consequences.

03:04I've been trying to get my kid admitted to school.

03:06But at both government-run or private schools,

03:09as soon as they learn of my son's Pakistani family background,

03:12they get scared and then they say they're sorry.

03:16For months now, Shahbaz has been visiting government offices,

03:20meeting officials, trying to find a way to bring his wife back.

03:24So far, he says all efforts have been in vain.

03:28DW asked India's Home Ministry whether there are plans

03:32to allow families to reunite, but did not get a response.

03:36There are families worse off than us.

03:39My son has grown up.

03:40Some infants separated from their mothers.

03:43They are somehow surviving.

03:45At his local mosque, Shahbaz and his son say a prayer

03:51for Iram's return and for the hundreds of other families

03:55hoping to be reunited with their loved ones in India.

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