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Mother of Shaurya Chakra awardee not among Pak nationals being deported: Police clarifies
Reports earlier said Shameema Akhtar, mother of slain Constable Mudasir Shaikh, was among the Pak nationals being deported.
The mother of a Shaurya Chakra awardee who was killed in a terror strike was not among the Pakistani nationals being deported to Pakistan, a statement by district police headquarter of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla, cited by news agency ANI, said on Tuesday.
The clarification came after a PTI news agency report said that among the deportees is Shameema Akhtar, the mother of Constable Mudasir Ahmad Shaikh, who was killed in May 2022 while confronting terrorists as part of a covert Jammu and Kashmir Police team.
Mudasir was posthumously honoured with the Shaurya Chakra, which Shameema, alongside her husband, received from President Droupadi Murmu in May 2023 in Delhi.
In a carefully worded clarification carried by a PTI report later, Shameema's brother-in-law Mohammad Younus said martyr Mudasir's mother has returned home as she was not taken for deportation. "We are thankful to the Government of India," Younus said.
Mudasir's uncle Mohammad Younus had earlier told reporters, "My sister-in-law is from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is our territory. Only Pakistanis should have been deported." He also mentioned the family's connection with top government officials: "After Mudasir's death, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the family, and so did the Lieutenant Governor, twice," PTI had quoted him.
Speaking of his sister-in-law, he had said, "My bhabhi was 20 years old when she came here and has been living here for 45 years now. My appeal to (PM Narendra) Modi and Amit Shah is that they should not do it."
Shameema had married Mohammad Maqsood, a retired police officer, before the onset of militancy in the region in 1990. In honour of Mudasir’s sacrifice, the main square in Baramulla has been renamed Shaheed Mudasir Chowk.
In the wake of the Pahalgam attack, the Centre initiated several measures — suspending the Indus Waters Treaty, downgrading diplomatic ties with Islamabad, and ordering all Pakistani nationals on short-term visas to leave India by April 27. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) further decided that all Pakistanis, except those holding long-term, diplomatic, or official visas, must exit India by April 29.
Union home minister Amit Shah personally contacted state chief ministers on April 25 to ensure compliance with the directive. The Union home secretary also followed up with state officials via video conference to enforce the deadline for those with revoked visas.
India has linked the Pahalgam attack to cross-border elements and pledged strict action against those responsible.
(With PTI Inputs)
