Pak Hindu woman stuck in Jodhpur as exit permission denied

Jodhpur: An elderly Hindu woman from Pakistan has been stuck in India since March last year, when she visited Haridwar on pilgrimage along with her son and sister-in-law, due to alleged refusal of Indian immigration authorities to grant exit permission.

Hawa Devi (75) of Mithi in Sindh Province of Pakistan had visited Haridwar on pilgrim visa in March 2014, along with her son Mahesho and sister-in-law Moomal.

“After completing our pilgrimage, when we came back to Jodhpur and applied for departure permission from Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO), they kept on lingering the matter until the date of visa expired,” said Mahesho.

“…We were asked to deposit our passports in January this year at FRRO by an inspector, which we did and today, we do not have any valid document with us to show our status,” he said, adding that they needed to go back home at the earliest to attend to his ailing father.

Hindu Singh Sodha, President of the Seemant Lok Sangthan, which has been fighting for the rights of Pakistani Hindu migrants, said this was a bizarre case of holding back foreign nationals in the country despite expiry of visa.

Divisional Commissioner Ratan Lahoti, who heads the divisional level committee to address the issues pertaining to Pakistani Hindu migrants, told PTI that the matter has come to his notice and he has sought details.

“I have just come to know about the issue and collecting the details. I assure that I will come out with a way for their departure after perusing the details as soon as possible,” Lahoti said.