CHANDIGARH: Altaf Paleja is a resident of Bhuj and has a home there, in Gujarat Kutch district. But when his Pakistani wife Sidra visited him from Pakistan, they were not allowed to enter Bhuj and were forced to stay at a hotel in Morbi according to a report published in Times of India.
Kutch MP Vinod Chavda has also written to the indian high commissioner’s office, urging permission for Pakistani nationals to live in Bhuj town, according to ToI. Owing to the countries’ strained relations, India has denied the Pakistani national entry to the border district of Kutch, where Paleja’s family is based. When Sidra and her family visited India eight months ago, they were granted visas with a caveat that they could stay any other place but not Kutch.
They decided to live in the nearest district Morbi but could not find a house in the town as no one was willing to rent a house to the family because they had come from Pakistan. “Finally, we had to stay at a hotel. It was difficult because my family from Bhuj also decided to stay with my in-laws,” said Paleja.
He has now initiated the procedure to invite his wife and in-laws again, along with a special guest he hasn’t met before — and his wife’s six month-old son Muhammad Azaan. Unfortunately, the situation for Paleja and his Karachi based wife has not changed. The office of the High Commissioner of India in Pakistan has informed Paleja that his wife, son and mother-in-law could get visas, but they would not be permitted to enter Kutch.
They were told to choose any other district. “This is really strange… The authorities have no reason to deny my wife entry into Kutch,” said Paleja. Kutch MP Vinod Chavda has also written to the indian high commissioner’s office, urging permission for Pakistani nationals to live in Bhuj town.
