Srinagar, April 30
Sixty Pakistani women married to former Kashmiri terrorists were deported to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah border, said officials on Wednesday.
Officials said that in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 civilians, including 25 tourists and one local, were killed, 60 Pakistani women, who had married former Kashmiri terrorists, were deported to Pakistan.
These women were picked up from Srinagar, Baramulla, Kupwara, Budgam, and Shopian districts and were escorted in buses to Punjab for handover to Pakistani authorities.
Most of the women had entered Kashmir under the 2010 rehabilitation policy for former terrorists.
In addition to this, 11 Pakistani nationals, who had entered India on valid visas nearly 45 years ago and had been staying illegally in Mendhar and Poonch, were also sent back.
After the Pahalgam terror attack, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had directed all states and Union Territories to identify and remove and deport Pakistani citizens from their respective states and UTs immediately.
Tensions have mounted between the two countries after Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists sponsored and aided by Pakistan killed 26 innocent civilians, including 25 tourists and a local, on April 22 in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam.
The entire country was outraged by the cowardly act of terrorists, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his first reaction to Pahalgam killings that the terrorists, their handlers and backers would he chased and hunted down to the ends of the earth.
PM Modi, after a meeting with the defence minister, national security advisor, CDS and three chiefs of army, navy and Air Force, gave a free hand to the armed forces to respond to the Pahalgam terror attack by deciding on the timing, targets and response against the terrorists and their backers.
J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha had a security review meeting with Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi in Srinagar a few days ago.
The L-G asked the Army to use whatever force is required to hunt down the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack. Meanwhile, to send a powerful message to terrorists, their overground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers, security forces demolished the houses of terrorists.
Recently, two houses belonging to Adil Hussain Thokar and Asif Sheikh were demolished in the Tral and Bijbehara areas. Both these terrorists were part of the LeT terrorist group involved in the Pahalgam killings. Security forces have so far demolished the houses of 10 terrorists, who are reportedly still active in the Kashmir Valley.
On Monday, the J&K Assembly unanimously condemned the dastardly terrorist attack and passed a resolution on this.
- IANS