HC seeks status report on reuniting deported Pak-born teen with Indian father in J&K

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has requested the Rajouri district administration to submit a compliance report regarding the March 25 decision to reunite a Pakistan-born teenager deported after the Pahalgam terror attack with his Indian father. The court, presided over by Justice MA Chowdhary, likened the boy’s situation to the human suffering and estrangement caused by the Partition.

The case highlights the tragedy faced by Aasim Sajjad, born to Rajouri-based government school teacher Sajjad Ahmed and a Pakistani woman, Shabnum Kouser of Rawali in Gujranwala. The couple married in Pakistan in December 2005, and Aasim was born there in November 2006. Aasim’s wife and son visited India in October 2007 on a 90-day visa, which was subsequently extended until 2013.

When his wife passed away on June 5, 2013, Ahmed sought an extension of his son’s visa, which was granted until April 20, 2015. Despite Ahmed’s efforts to obtain Indian citizenship or visa extension based on compassionate grounds, none of the applications were considered. According to the court, on April 29, 2025, J&K Police raided Ahmed’s house, removed his son, and deported him through the Wagah border, all without informing the teenager or providing a deportation order.

The Union government had earlier cancelled visas for all Pakistani citizens following the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam on April 22. The Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) argued that Ahmed did not approach the court "with clean hands" and that the teenager had been residing in India without a valid visa, thus obligating him to leave.

The FRRO also mentioned that the teenager’s citizenship application status, which Ahmed claims to have filed, has not yet been received on the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) portal.