Odisha waiting for fresh directive from Centre on deportation of 11 Pak nationals
Odisha DGP YB Khurania said the 11 persons who were served with Leave India notices are not in violation of the directions of the Centre
The Odisha government is waiting for a fresh directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on deportation of Pakistani nationals staying in India as the Centre is yet to take a final decision on the modalities, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Odisha police had served notice on 12 Pakistani nationals, many of them women, staying in Odisha in the wake of the Centre’s directive following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
Since then, a 52-year-old woman staying in Bhubaneswar has been deported as her visa had expired. The woman, Nagma Yusuf, left Odisha on Sunday after receiving an official ‘leave India’ notice. She had been staying in Bhubaneswar since 2008 after her marriage to Mohammed Nizam Uddin, but she did not pursue Indian citizenship following her marriage and her visa expired in December 2024, after which she applied for a long-term visa. This request has been declined.
Odisha director general of police (DGP) YB Khurania said as on Tuesday, the 11 persons who were served with Leave India notices are not in violation of the directions of the Centre.
“The government has changed its position, and the 11 persons have been asked to furnish documents and apply for visas. After they have applied, the Centre will take a fresh view and instruct us what to do with them. If the Government of India say that they have to quit India, they will be asked to or they will be escorted to the exit point. Whatever is to be done will be done as per the instructions of Centre,” said the DGP.
Of the 11 nationals, the state government is in sticky wicket in at least two cases involving a 55-year-old woman in Bolangir district and a 71-year-old woman in Balasore district after they refused to leave India.
Razia Sultana, a 71-year-old widow living in Soro area of Balasore, refused to comply with the deportation order, claiming that she was born in India, but her parents later shifted to Pakistan. She claimed to have arrived again in India with her three siblings and parents in 1980. A year later, she visited Odisha and got married to a Soro native. Though her family members returned to Pakistan in 1984, Sultana stayed back in Odisha with her husband.
After she was served with Leave India notice on April 25, her family is distressed, unable to understand why they are being asked to leave despite having PAN card, ration card and Aadhar card. “My mother is not a Pakistani. Besides, she is 72,a suffering from liver infection, kidney issues, and spinal problems. Issuing such a notice without proper verification has caused us serious mental stress,” said her son. What has made matters complicated is there is no record on the type of visa she was holding when she arrived in India in 1980. She never applied for any visa again or attempted to acquire Indian citizenship.
