Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar Feb 21: The Pakistani wives of former Kashmiri militants today protested here, demanding citizenship rights and travel documents from the Jammu and Kashmir Government.
Scores of women gathered at the Press Enclave here to demand that the Government allow them to return to their homeland. They chanted slogans in support of their demands and urged the administration to address their problems on a humanitarian level.
The women had married Kashmiri men who had crossed the Line of Control for weapons training. However, as part of the Government’s rehabilitation effort, they surrendered and returned to the valley with their families. Click here to watch video
The protesting women claimed that they were unable to contact their parents, siblings, and relatives owing to a lack of travel documents. They claimed that they were not provided the promised rights and were denied permission to meet their families. “We have not seen them in ten to fifteen years,” a protesting woman said, adding that she does not have an Indian passport and therefore cannot travel to Pakistan.
Another woman said she was recently divorced and wished to return to Pakistan since “I have no place to live now. What am I going to do? I implore the Government to investigate our cases thoroughly,” she said.
They said that the promised perks were never granted to them, “We have contacted the relevant authorities multiple times but have received no response, “another woman said adding that being separated from their families had transformed them into “living corpses.”
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