Muzaffarabad, AJK (Pakistan administrated Kashmir) – In the aftermath of a recent attack in Pahalgam that claimed the lives of Indian tourists, the Modi-led government has intensified its crackdown in Indian-administered Jammu & Kashmir, unleashing a wave of measures that many see as driven more by hysteria than logic. Among them is the forced deportation of women from Pakistan-administered Jammu & Kashmir — some of whom have lived in the region for over a decade — under the pretext of “national security.”
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This week, the Indian government deported Naila Begum, a woman originally from Rawalakot, along with her two young children, across the Wagah border into Pakistan. The tragic twist? The two children who were deported — Ayesha (8) and Farhan (10) — were born in Indian-administered Kashmir, making them legally Indian citizens. Meanwhile, her eldest daughter Iqra, born in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, was not deported and was instead left behind with her father in Kashmir.
Naila’s story is not an isolated case. She is among nearly two dozen women who were brought to Indian-administered Kashmir under the 2010 “Surrender and Rehabilitation Policy” — a now-defunct initiative launched by former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The policy had promised safe return, reintegration, and economic support to Kashmiri youth who had crossed into Pakistan or Pakistan-administered Kashmir during the armed uprising of the 1990s. Many of these men returned with wives and children in hopes of rebuilding their lives.
Yet for most, the promises were never fulfilled. Upon their return, many men were arrested and jailed, while their wives were denied citizenship, identification documents, and basic rights. Still, families like Naila’s quietly rebuilt their lives in towns like Budgam, where they lived for over a decade — until now.
The Pahalgam attack provided the Indian government with a fresh excuse to target these women. But the deportation of children born on Indian soil exposes the hypocrisy and incoherence of the administration’s policies. In one swift decision, the government has not only broken families apart but also revealed its selective and often absurd application of citizenship laws.
Naila’s return to Pakistan on May 5, accompanied by only two of her three children, marks the third forced displacement her family has endured. Her parents originally migrated from Poonch to Rawalakot during the Partition in 1947. Her second displacement came when she crossed the Line of Control with her husband in 2011 under the repatriation policy. Now, once again, her life is uprooted — this time by the very government that once invited her return.
This cruel separation reflects a deeper, disturbing reality: the Modi government appears more interested in controlling territory than caring for its people. For all the rhetoric about reclaiming Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the administration shows little regard for the Kashmiris it already governs — especially if they happen to have ties across the Line of Control.
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The Jammu & Kashmir conflict has produced countless such human tragedies — lives torn apart by borders, politics, and decades of unresolved hostility. While governments speak of sovereignty and strategy, families like Naila’s bear the human cost, often quietly, and always painfully.
Now more than ever, there is an urgent need to resist this escalating war hysteria, demand the withdrawal of foreign military presence from Jammu & Kashmir, and center the voices and lives of Kashmiris in any dialogue about the region’s future.
