New Delhi: The already strained India-Pakistan relations have hit the nadir since the gruesome April 22 terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
With Pakistan-based UN-designated terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) offshoot The Resistance Front claiming responsibility for the attack, India have hit back with several diplomatic steps including closing the borders, cancelling visas and ordering all Pakistani nationals to return to their country immediately.
As Indians cry for revenge for the ghastly killings, the hopes and dreams of a Rajasthan man have been dashed.
A family from Barmer district had set out for Pakistan for the wedding of 25-year-old Shaintan Singh. But the baraat party was stopped at the Wagah-Attari border, forcing them to return home.
Shaintan was engaged to Kesar Kanwar, a resident of Amarkot district in Pakistan’s Sindh province, four years ago. After a long wait, their marriage was fixed for April 30.
But that is not to be.
After the engagement, Shaintan’s family had struggled to secure visas which would let them travel to travel to Pakistan. They faced bureaucratic delays and diplomatic hurdles, but after three years of persistent efforts, the family finally received visa clearance on February 18. The two families agreed on the wedding date (April 30) – before the visas expire on May 12.
The groom’s family expressed their disappointment at the entire incident.
“We waited for years and followed every legal process, but now everything is uncertain.”
“After years of waiting and all the struggles we went through to make this wedding happen, it feels like everything has come to a halt. We were so close, but now I don’t know what will happen next. I feel totally helpless at this stage,” a disappointed Shaintan told Hindustan Times.
