63-year-old woman deported after Pahalgam attack granted fresh visa to return to India
Srinagar: Nearly three months after her deportation following the Pahalgam terror attack, 63-year-old Rakshanda Rashid has been granted a fresh visitor visa by the Indian government, allowing her return to India.
Rashid, a Pakistani national married to a retired Indian government official, had lived in Jammu for 38 years with her husband and two children. She was among nearly 60 Pakistani nationals deported after the Ministry of Home Affairs revoked all short-term visas under Section 3(1) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, in the aftermath of the April 2025 Pahalgam terror incident.
On April 28, Rashid received a Leave India Notice and was deported the following day to Pakistan via the Wagah-Attari border. Since then, she has been living alone in a Lahore hotel and facing financial distress.
Challenging the deportation, Rashid moved the Jammu & Kashmir High Court. A Single Judge initially directed authorities to facilitate her return. However, the Union Government appealed the order, and the case reached a Division Bench.
On July 30, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that, considering the “peculiar facts and circumstances,” authorities had decided to grant her a fresh visitor visa. Her counsel accepted the proposal and agreed to withdraw the writ petition.
The High Court disposed of the matter, emphasising that the relief extended to Rashid was a one-time exception and would not set a precedent. Rashid and her family are now allowed to continue pursuing their pending applications for Indian citizenship and long-term visa status.
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Niqab incident: Nitish Kumar perhaps revealing his true colours, says J-K CM
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday criticised his Bihar counterpart over the niqab incident and said that Nitish Kumar might be slowly revealing his true nature.
"Nitish Kumar, who was once considered a secular leader, may be slowly showing his true colours," Abdullah told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.
Abdullah said Kumar removing the face veil of a Muslim woman doctor was wrong and cannot be justified by any means.
"We have seen this kind of incident here several years ago. Have you forgotten how Mehbooba Mufti removed the burqa of a legitimate voter inside a polling station? That act was wrong, and this act (of Kumar) is also wrong.
"If the (Bihar) chief minister did not want to hand over the order to her (Muslim woman), they could have kept her aside. However, to humiliate her like this is totally wrong," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
Kumar stirred a huge controversy after he removed the face veil of a Muslim woman at a function earlier this week.
