Deported Pakistani man struggles to unite with family in India

33-year old Siraj Khan strayed into India by accident more than two decades ago

KARACHI: I spend my entire day thinking about my wife and children back in India or visit offices to plead my case to unite us, says 33-year old Pakistani man, Siraj Khan, who strayed into India by accident more than two decades ago.

Khan was left devastated when he was deported to Pakistan last month, leaving his family behind following a protracted legal battle and since then he has been pleading his case at various platforms in Pakistan so he can meet his wife and children, who are in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Khan's wife is also struggling back in India to bring her husband back home.

Talking to The Express Tribune at human rights activist Ansar Burney's office in Karachi, Khan said in low tone, "Back in 1996, I was separated from my parents as a child when I crossed the Pakistan-India border and now this has been repeated after I have been deported from India. But this time, the victims are my wife, children and I."

Originally from a small village in Manshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khan wanted to go to Karachi but boarded the wrong train, Samjhota Express, in Lahore in 1996 and ended up in Amritsar, start his decades-long ordeal.



"I stayed at a children's shelter for four years in Gujarat and went to Mumbai after turning 18," he said. In Mumbai, Khan worked as a waiter for road side vendors for years before finally becoming a chef.

According to Khan, in 2005, he married Sajida Pathan - an Indian national. In 2009, he surrendered himself to the Indian authorities to claim Indian nationality.

Being a Pakistani who had accidently entered India, Khan was never accepted and a legal battle was initiated against him by the Indian authorities to verify his country of origin, which eventually resulted in Khan being separated from his three children and wife last month.

"Who says history doesn't repeat itself? In my case, all events are repeating once again. Earlier [in 1996], my father, who is no more in this world, was a victim and ran from one office to another in search for me and currently, the same is happening with me so that I can meet my family that has been left alone in India," he pleaded with tears rolling down his cheeks.

Siraj Khan with his wife Sajida Pathan. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/ EXPRESS

"I was 12 years old when I was separated from my family and today, after two decades, my daughter, who is 12-year-old and two twin sons of seven years each, have been separated from me," Khan said.

"I'm distressed and demand from the government of both the countries on humanitarian grounds to let my family unite once again," he said, placing all hopes on the governments of both the countries.

Sharing the reason for being denied Indian nationality, Khan said that Indians considered every Pakistani a terrorist, and hence he was deported even after remaining in India for such a long period.

Khan recalled living on the roads without a single meal day in and day out for a long time when he was in India. "No one can imagine my ordeal living without parents. I don't want my children to live a life without their father," he said.



He complained about the government authorities for being insensitive and said that when Geeta, an Indian national, who was lost in Pakistan, was sent to India, she was welcomed and received by their foreign minister but officials of his own country [Pakistan] have yet to meet him to listen to his ordeal or assure him of any kind of help to reunite with his family.

Siraj holds out his phone showing a picture of his children who are in India. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/ EXPRESS

Being in Pakistan, Khan also misses his father who could not bear the misery of remaining away from his son and died while Khan was in India.

Currently, Khan is in Karachi as his brother is hospitalised because of kidney failure and battling with his life.

"I feel helpless as I feel new to my own country and can't do anything to return to my family with no source of income," Khan said with a dejected look.