As many as 356 Pakistani brides, who are awaiting Indian citizenship after their marriage with Indian grooms, are pinning their hopes on the thaw in the relations between India and Pakistan following the historic handshake between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif last week.
Officials in the Uttar Pradesh Government said that there may be thousands of women from Pakistan who are married to Indians and are illegally staying here, but officially 356 Pakistani brides have sought Indian citizenship after their marriage to Indian men.
Almost all the districts in the Uttar Pradesh have Pakistani brides, but Aligarh has officially the maximum with 42 women who are waiting for Indian passports.
“In majority of these cases, we have sent the initial report to the Ministry of External Affairs. The ball is in the court of the Union Government and they will have to take a call,” an official in the Department of Home Affairs said.
After recent meeting between two Prime Ministers, there is hope among the family members having brides from Pakistan that relations between two countries will improve. “There seems sincerity in India and Pakistan to resolve issues and promote relations. If this happens the Pakistani women married to Indian men could get Indian citizenship very soon,” Parvez Rehman Siddiqui, a trader, said.
“We have high hopes from Modi. His initiative to invite SAARC leaders to his swearing-in ceremony was commendable,” he said, adding, “It is a known fact that during the BJP regime, India and Pakistan enjoyed good relations.”
Parvez’s bhabhi Shamma is from Karachi in Pakistan. The marriage took place in 2004 and since then they are running from pillar to post to get Indian citizenship for Shamma. She now lives on a long-term visa that needs to be renewed every three years.
What makes these families hopeful is that in 2005 over 3,000 families in Kutch in Gujarat gained Indian citizenship, after Indian Government decided that Pakistani Hindus who had lived in these areas for over five years could get Indian citizenship. People driven by poverty opt to switch over to Indian side of border and majority of them are Hindus. People believe Modi played a crucial role in the move.
“The order was Hindu specific but with thaw in relations between two countries both India and Pakistan should grant visas to bonafide brides on their sides,” Parvez said.
Anwar Hussain, an OSD of lawmaker in Uttar Pradesh’s Koli constituency Jameerulla, married Rehana of Faiz Begh of Pakistan. Rehana is hopeful that her application of Indian citizenship would be accepted post-Sharif visit. “It is nice to see two Prime Ministers shaking hands… the ice will melt and soon I will be officially Indian citizen. Insha’Allah!,” she said.