Covid Conundrum: Disheartened 136 Pakistani nationals desperate to return to their motherland

By SHRI RAM SHAW

New Delhi, 12 May: Events in life fail to impart any great sense to many, but some who chastened by experience learn to live rationally and are rewarded with happiness. But, that’s not the case with most of us as they are supposed to be a victim of circumstances.

As the second wave of Covid spiked in India, Pakistan shut the borders before the date of crossover (April 23) fixed for over 136 Pakistani nationals, majority of whom Hindus, including Ajeet Kumar Nagdev who lost his wife on 18th of April at Balaghat town, over 160km from Nagpur.

No one would have thought that they will be caught in such a pathetic situation and their return to their motherland would turn out to be a Herculean task. They don’t even know what lies in future for them as their visa expiry dates are nearing. Their hopes now hang in balance.

They all have a story to tell, but that of Ajeet Kumar Nagdev story is undoubtedly quite heart-wrenching. He had shifted to India from Pakistan with dreams of a better life, but future or fortune has something different in store for him. Covid struck in a year after he came from Usta Mohammed city in Balochistan province of Pakistan.

His business of selling hosiery at Balaghat town in Nagpur ran into losses during the pandemic. His wife died in-between, leading to a fresh legal hassle. “Even if borders open, it may not be easy for me to take my eight-year-old daughter Lavleen along”, Nagdev said.

Lavleen was born in India and since the family was living on a long-term visa (LTV), her name was endorsed on her mother’s name Rekha Kumari, who died some days ago. Now with the mother no more, her passport is also not valid. Nagdev hopes Lavleen’s name is now included in his passport at the earliest or else he may remain stranded in India.

“Perhaps, authorities will not allow her to cross on the basis of my wife’s passport who is no more. Therefore, I request Indian government to give immigration clearance for my daughter at earliest on humanitarian ground” Nagdev urged. A disheartened and helpless Nagdev now hopes for the Pakistani side to relent and take him in. “We have lost all our hopes. If I go back to Pakistan, maybe I get some support from my people there. My kids can go to a school there,” he said.

However, Nagdev case is no exception. There are several others too, who are left stranded across the border. Sattanbai in Nagpur had come to meet her son living here. “Though some of the stranded persons have already left when borders were opened earlier, she planned to extend her stay. Now my brother is not well, and she wants to go back, but the borders are closed,” said her son Om Prakash, who lives in Nagpur. Sattanbai is from Ghotki city in Sindh province.

Thirty-two-year-old Anil Rakhria from Raipur in Chhattisgarh also had plans to go back to Ghotki as his father wanted him there. Now, he waits for the border to open. “The wait is quite agonising,” he said.