Pakistani Woman Deported After Pahalgam Attack to Get Visa

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to grant a visitor’s visa to Rakshanda Rashid, a Pakistani woman who was deported after the Pahalgam terror attack.
• The Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh High Court dismissed her petition seeking to return, but noted the MHA’s decision and stated it would not set a precedent.
• Rakshanda Rashid was deported on April 29, despite her Long-Term Visa extension application being pending, a move that was legally challenged by her family.

GG News Bureau
Jammu, 2nd Aug: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has informed the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh High Court that it has decided to grant a visitor’s visa to Rakshanda Rashid, a Pakistani woman who was deported from Jammu in the aftermath of a terror attack. The court, acknowledging the MHA’s submission, dismissed her petition seeking to return to her family but stipulated that the decision should not constitute a precedent.

Rakshanda Rashid, 62, a Pakistani citizen who married an Indian national 35 years ago and has four children residing in Jammu and Kashmir, was deported on April 29. Her deportation followed the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives and prompted a government decision to deport Pakistani nationals staying in India.

Appearing for the home ministry, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the MHA, “after considerable deliberation and in light of the peculiar circumstances of this case,” made an “in-principle” decision to grant the visitor’s visa. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, recorded the submission, noting that the authority would process and grant the visa “at the earliest.”

The court’s decision brings to a close a legal battle that began after Rashid, who was living in Jammu on an annually renewed Long-Term Visa (LTV), was deported despite having an application for an extension pending. A single-judge bench had previously ordered the Central government to “retrieve” her, observing that her deportation was not warranted given her long-term stay and family ties.

Her husband, Sheikh Zahoor Ahmed, expressed his relief over the development, stating, “We are relieved. The entire family was under tension. We were suffering due to the decision (to deport her).” The court also noted that Rashid can pursue her pending applications for Indian citizenship and a long-term visa upon her return.