Police buses began leaving for Kashmir to Pakistan this week—not just carrying passengers, but carrying away years of hope for 60 Pakistani nationals, many of them women and children who crossed into the Valley under a promise of peace in 2010.
They had settled in the Valley as part of the 2010 rehabilitation policy, introduced during Omar Abdullah’s tenure as chief minister.
Now, they are being told to pack up and leave.
Among the deportees is Shameema Akhtar, the mother of special police officer Mudasir Ahmad Shaikh, who was killed in a gunfight with terrorists in 2022.
“My sister-in-law came here as a young bride 45 years ago. She belongs to PoK which is our own land. After Mudasir died, the home minister came to meet us. Now they are deporting his mother. Is this justice?” asked Mudasir’s uncle Mohammad Younus.
The 60 individuals — 36 from Srinagar, nine each from Baramulla and Kupwara, four from Budgam, and two from Shopian — were picked up and moved to Punjab. They are expected to be handed over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah border.
For many, the news came like a bolt from the blue.
Alyza Rafiq, who arrived in Kashmir in 2013, said she never imagined this day would come. “I have three children. They’re asking me to leave my youngest daughter behind. How can a mother do that?” she said. “We have election cards, Aadhaar cards, ration cards. I’ve even voted here. What wrong have we done?”
Zahida Begum, who has lived in Kashmir for 15 years, waved her Indian documents.
“I appeal to Governor sahib and Modi ji — don’t be cruel. If you must, send us back in body bags,” another woman named Rafiqa told PTI. “My children were born here. This is their home. Now I’m being told to go back alone, or leave them behind. What kind of justice is this?”
The wave of deportations has sparked outrage from political leaders and human rights advocates.
“The recent government directive to deport all Pakistani nationals from India has raised serious humanitarian concerns, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti wrote on X.
“Many affected are women who came to India 30–40 years ago, married Indian citizens, raised families, and have long been part of our society.”
The women now find themselves caught in a cruel paradox. While they were welcomed under a state policy then, they are now being treated as illegal residents.
Many have never returned to Pakistan since crossing over. Their children have never even set foot in the country they are now being asked to call home.
The fate of these women exposes a deeper question: Who gets to decide what’s home?