Mass separations and emotional upheaval rocked the India-Pakistan border this weekend as India’s government expelled most Pakistani citizens, The New York Times reported.
Triggered by a terror attack in Kashmir that New Delhi has pinned on Islamabad, the expulsion order shattered cross-border families and decades-old ties.
At Punjab’s Attari-Wagah crossing, scenes of heartbreak unfolded as families rushed to meet the deadline, pleading for exceptions.
Takhat Singh, who had traveled from Pakistan to Rajasthan for his daughter’s wedding, had to part ways with his wife — an Indian passport holder barred from crossing with him and their children.
“How can you separate us like this?” he pleaded.
Vajida Khan found herself trapped too: unable to return to Pakistan with her two young children who are Pakistani citizens.
In retaliation, Pakistan canceled most Indian visas, escalating tensions and trapping families like the Singhs and the Khans in bureaucratic limbo.
For many, including Hindu refugees who had sought shelter in India, the future now looks uncertain and bleak — a painful reminder of partition’s lingering wounds and political estrangement.
