Pak citizen gets assurance of help from both sides

Nagpur: Pakistani citizen Ajit Kumar Nagdev living in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat town, whose case was reported by TOI, has got assurances of help from both the sides.

Nagdev got a call from the Pakistani High Commission at Delhi saying that his papers would be cleared without hassles as he wanted to exit India and go back. This was followed by a call from the BJP spokesperson in Madhya Pradesh, Durgesh Keswani, inquiring about reasons for his exit. Keswani assured all the help so that he continues to have a comfortable stay in India.

TOI had reported about Nagdev on May 9. He has been living in India for around 10 years on a long-term visa (LTV). He had come from Usta Mohammed town of the Balochistan province in Pakistan.

Nagdev, who has been selling hosiery items in village marts around Balaghat, said he could never settle financially. Things got worse after Covid and he had applied for exit from India to return to Pakistan where his family lives. A personal tragedy struck in between. His wife Rekha Kumari passed away due to a kidney ailment while being treated at Nagpur. Later, the borders were also closed.

His daughter Lavleen’s name was endorsed in Rekha Kumari’s passport after she was born in India. As she is no more, there are questions over documents of eight-year-old Lavleen’s nationality to allow the crossover.

An official from Pakistan embassy confirmed that Nagdev was contacted and said that formalities for Lavleen’s passport would be done fast. On the Indian side, Jeswani also assured that his case would be taken to the highest level.

Nagdev said he also wanted to go back to Pakistan for personal reasons after his wife’s death.