NEW DELHI: “I was Pakistan’s daughter, but now I’m India’s daughter-in-law,” says Seema Haider, who fears deportation after the government suspended visa services for Pakistani nationals as part of a series of retaliatory steps following the Pahalgam terror attack.
Haider had made headlines in 2023 when she left Pakistan to marry her Indian lover, Sachin Meena. She was already married in Pakistan’s Sindh province but had illegally entered India via Nepal along with her four children.
In a video circulating on social media platforms, Seema says, “I do not want to go to Pakistan. I appeal to PM (Narendra) Modi and UP CM Yogi (Adityanath) to let me stay in India.”
Haider claims she adopted Hinduism after marrying Meena.
Despite facing a countrywide backlash, her lawyer remains hopeful that she will be allowed to stay in India, asserting that she is no longer a Pakistani citizen.
“Seema is no longer a Pakistani national. She married Sachin Meena, a resident of Greater Noida, and recently gave birth to their daughter, Bharti Meena. Her citizenship is now connected with her Indian husband, and therefore the Centre’s directive should not apply to her,” Advocate AP Singh told PTI on Thursday.
“I appeal to Modi ji and Yogi ji that I am in their refuge now. I was Pakistan’s daughter but now I’m the daughter-in-law of India. Let me stay here,” Haider said in the video.
In the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a series of retaliatory measures, including the suspension of visa services for Pakistani nationals, on Wednesday.
The Ministry of External Affairs also announced that all valid visas issued to Pakistani nationals would be cancelled effective April 27. Medical visas will remain valid until April 29. All Pakistani nationals currently in India have been asked to leave before their visas expire.
Haider had left her home in Karachi in May 2023 and entered India. In July, Indian authorities caught her living with Meena in the Rabupura area of Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddha Nagar district. The two had reportedly come into contact while playing online games in 2019.
At present, the couple resides in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
(With PTI inputs)
