New Delhi: Remember Seema Haider?
Yes, she is the Pakistani woman who made headlines two years ago when she left her country to marry her Indian lover, Sachin Meena. Already married in Pakistan’s Sindh province, Seema had managed to illegally enter India via Nepal, along with her four children.
Not just that, she stayed back in India, and settled with Sachin in UP’s Greater Noida, after pleading with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath that she be allowed to stay as she was not a spy.
Seema also appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to be granted Indian citizenship.
Now, she is in choppy waters again as the Indian government has ordered all Pakistani nationals to leave the country in the wake of the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack four days ago.
Amidst widespread outrage, and buzz on social media over whether Seema would also be sent back to Pakistan, she said, “I was Pakistan’s daughter, but now I’m India’s daughter-in-law… Let me stay,” reported PTI.
In a video shared 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.”
She claims that she has adopted Hinduism after marrying Meena.
Despite India’s strong stance against Pakistan, Seema’s lawyer is hopeful that she will be allowed to live in India.
“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.
Union Home minister Amit Shah has written to all state governments to identify Pakistani nationals so that they can be deported. The UP government has started the process, and already sent back 32 Pakistanis via the Attari border.
It remains to be seen if Seema is treated as a special case.
