A 38-year-old Pakistani man named Siraj Muhammad Khan, who had mistakenly travelled to India as a child and lived there for 22 years, recently reflected on the ill-treatment meted out to him in his home country.
In an exclusive conversation with Dawn, Siraj said he boarded the Delhi-bound Samjhauta Express erroneously in 1996.
A native of the Mansehra district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, Siraj wanted to travel to Karachi but took the wrong train and ended up in India.
Between 1996 and 2018, he lived in various cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Siraj stayed in the National Capital for a short period and spent roughly 3 years at a children’s home in Ahmedabad.
He lived the longest part of those 22 years in Mumbai, where he met his Indian wife Sajida. The couple has two twin sons and an elder daughter. Siraj eventually became an Indian citizen and was no longer an ‘undocumented migrant’.
However, the desire to go back to Pakistan to meet his extended family put Siraj in trouble. He spent time behind bars and was eventually deported in 2018 after Pakistan’s foreign ministry confirmed that Siraj was born in the Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Dehumanised as ‘Kafir’, ‘Hindu’ and ‘Indian spy’
Contrary to India, life for Siraj was fraught with challenges in Pakistan. He was grilled by army and intelligence agencies for 3 days after landing in his home country.
After being allowed to travel to Mansehra, his family members and relatives began treating him with suspicion. This included his mother and siblings.
Siraj Muhammad Khan was dehumanised as a ‘kafir’, ‘Hindu’ and an ‘Indian spy’ by none other than his co-religionists. His brother accused him of returning to Pakistan to usurp ancestral property.
Never faced such hatred in India: Sajida
Siraj’s life became even more miserable than it was before. After his Indian wife and children were granted visas to travel to Pakistan, they were faced with far worse ostracism.
Sajida recalled how she was mocked for her skin tone and that Siraj’s family refused to share utensils with her. To make matters worse, they tried to brainwash Siraj into abandoning his Indian wife.
While speaking to Dawn, Sajida lamented, “His family wouldn’t even share their utensils with us and made snide remarks about my complexion.” She noted that she never faced such ill-treatment in India as a Muslim.
Children ostracised in Pakistani school for being Indian
“We keep hearing that it is difficult for Muslims in India, but I never faced such hatred there,” Sajida emphasised. Her children also faced discrimination in schools after others learnt that they hailed from India.
Siraj’s daughter Zara recounted, “We tried not to tell them we are from India…But they found out and mocked us over it…We confine ourselves to this room because it can be scary.”
Sajida and her children could not get visas for Pakistan between 2022 and 2024. When Siraj wrote to the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, the officials sought bribes from him.
Officials seek bribe, Siraj continues to live in misery
“They want chai paani…I am a labourer who lives in a rented room. How do they expect me to have the money for bribes?” he told Dawn.
Siraj is currently living with Sajida and his three children in Pakistan. He has sought an extension of the visas for his family.
The Pakistani man hopes to be present at the wedding of his daughter in India. “It has been six years since I was deported,” he lamented.
