Indo-Pak marriages: Visas run into politics

BENGALURU: In April 2015, at a special camp in Bengaluru, many Pakistanis had lined up to seek expedition of the process that would give them

Long Term Visa

(

LTV

) and to collect citizenship applications. They were among people from a few other countries too.

According to officers from the ministry of home affairs (MHA) present then, there were over a hundred Pakistani women who had married Indians. While many Indians do marry Pakistanis, it is a tradition that remains unbroken in Bhatkal, a coastal town in Uttara Kannada district.

Bhatkal residents still marry Pakistanis, especially those from Karachi. When TOI had visited Bhatkal, citizens there had said that at least three-four such weddings would take place in a year, and there have been at least 15 marriages in the past four or five years.

MHA officials said that in Bengaluru, over 62 applications by Pakistanis for Indian citizenship have been pending since 1992. In many cases, citizenship requests by Pakistanis who marry Indians take years to be processed, given the geopolitical scenario.

Shihab, who is under arrest, could have brought his wife to India legally, as anyone marrying an Indian can get Indian citizenship. However, senior police officers said Shihab's chances of getting his wife into India legally wouldn't have been easy .

“If she was from any other country, getting a visa would have been easy. But if you marry a Pakistani or a Pakistani marries an Indian, getting a visa (in India or Pakistan) is tough,“ he said.

For those Pakistanis who have got Indian citizenship after marriage, life isn't easy either. Most of them are on constant watch by intelligence agencies and returning to their homes in Pakistan is a tough task.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.