Srinagar: While the whole world is celebrating International Women's Day, Pakistani-origin women who are married to Kashmiri men urged the government on Monday to pay heed to their demands.
The Pakistani women said that Women's Day was meaningless for them until they were granted Indian citizenship or permitted to visit their homes in Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, the Pakistani wives of former Kashmiri militants said that they came to Kashmir under the government's rehabilitation policy but they have been suffering since then.
Saira, one of the women, said that even though they came to Kashmir on the assurances of the government, but they have not been given any documents. "We are being denied citizenship here. We don't have documents to travel to our homes in Pakistan. So the government should deport us to Pakistan with our children." she demanded.
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The women said that there are currently 300 such Pakistani women in Kashmir, some of whom have been divorced and have nowhere to go.
The women have held several protests in the last few months appealing to the Centre and state administration to either grant them travel documents or deport them to Pakistan.
During the early 90s, many Kashmiri men had crossed over to Pakistan administered Kashmir to get arms training and eventually married the local women there. The Central government and the J&K government over the years introduced policies for such militants who wanted to return to their families in Kashmir. It is under such rehabilitation policies and promises that many former militants with their families returned to Kashmir over the years.
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