Pakistan's former legislator seeks asylum in India
Chandigarh: A former legislator from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has sought asylum in India, claiming that minorities were deprived of their rights in the neighbouring nation.
Baldev Kumar (43), along with his wife and two children came to India last month and is presently staying at Khanna in Punjab's Ludhiana district.
"I have come here to seek asylum and will request (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi Sahib to help us," Kumar told reporters in Khanna on Tuesday.
When asked why he left his country and came to India, Kumar said, "the whole world is watching what is the situation in Pakistan now. We were expecting from (Pakistan PM Imran) Khan Sahib that when he came (to power), the fate of Pakistan will change, he said, claiming Imran failed to do so.
"You are watching the situation (in Pakistan) and I am also watching the same. That day our Sikh girl was kidnapped. Such things should not take place," said Kumar.
Notably, in Pakistan's Punjab province, a teenage Sikh girl, the daughter of granthi (priest) of a Gurdwara there, was abducted and converted to Islam at gunpoint before she was married to a Muslim man, her family had alleged.
A video of the girl's family had gone viral on social media in which one of her family members had alleged that a group of men attacked their house and she was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam.
He said, "had minorities been getting rights in Pakistan, such situation should not have arisen." He further said he has also requested his other family members to leave Pakistan.
Kumar said that there were several families in Sindh and Nankana Sahib which told him that if he got asylum there (India), then they would also try to leave Pakistan.
Kumar was a former Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) from Barikot seat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.
India had expressed strong concern over the incidents of forced conversion and asked the neighbouring country to take remedial action to stop such cases.
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Thumbay Group begins work on Sharjah’s first private integrated psychiatric, rehabilitation hospital
Sharjah: Thumbay Group has laid the foundation stone for the Thumbay Psychiatric and Rehabilitation Hospital at Sharjah Healthcare City, a 120-bed facility that the company says will be the region’s first private, fully integrated hospital dedicated to psychiatric care, neuro-rehabilitation and addiction recovery.
The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri, who is also a member of the Sharjah Executive Council, in the presence of Dr. Thumbay Moideen.
Spread across 110,000 square feet, the hospital is being developed to address growing demand for specialised mental health and rehabilitation services in the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
The facility will include inpatient and outpatient services in psychiatry, neuro-rehabilitation, addiction treatment, child and adolescent mental health, and care for mood and anxiety disorders. It will also feature VIP inpatient villas designed to provide privacy and support long-term recovery.
A mosque, named the Thumbay Masjid, will be constructed within the campus and will be open to the public.
The hospital is being designed to meet standards for Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), an internationally recognised accreditation system for rehabilitation facilities.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri said the project reflects Sharjah’s commitment to strengthening healthcare infrastructure in all aspects of wellbeing.
“Mental health and rehabilitation have long needed dedicated infrastructure, and we are proud to support a private partner whose vision matches the ambition of this Emirate,” he said.
Dr. Thumbay Moideen said the project was a response to a growing need for specialised mental healthcare services in the region.
“We have spent over three decades building healthcare in this region, and the one conversation that has grown louder every year is mental health. Families have been carrying this quietly for too long. This hospital is our answer. It is purpose-built, not retrofitted, and it has been designed around dignity, recovery, and outcomes that families can trust,” he said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2026, and the hospital is expected to become operational by mid-2027.
Once completed, the facility will become part of Thumbay Group’s network of healthcare, education and diagnostic institutions across the UAE.
