Twisted fate at Attari: Pak sisters stay, Indian ones can't leave

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Attari: In a twist of fate at the
Attari border
, two Indian sisters, desperate to return to their families in Pakistan, were stopped — while two Pakistani sisters, unwilling to be deported, were spared the journey as the Pakistan govt did not open the gates on Thursday.
For Saeeda Sagir Fatima and Saeeda Jameer Fatima—Pakistani sisters who've lived in India for over 40 years—it was meant to be a forced departure.
Born in Lahore and settled in Srinagar decades ago, the two said they had legally crossed into India with valid passports and visas. Despite their repeated efforts to secure
Indian citizenship
, a court order, and years of waiting, it was denied. Their cousin, Manowwat Hussain, who accompanied them to bid farewell, said, "They've built lives here. Why should they be punished for wanting to live peacefully?" he said.
Calling Pakistan a country they barely knew, where they had no family, home, or property. Saeeda Sagir asked, "Who will take us in there?" "May our final breath be on Indian soil, and may we be laid to rest here," she added. Luckily for them, the border gates stayed shut. Saeeda, who is physically disabled, hoped that somehow the border would remain closed, keeping her from being sent to what she called a "foreign land" in her twilight years.
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Just a few steps away, another heartbreaking story unfolded. Sharmin and Shakeela, two Indian sisters married in Pakistan over 12 and 18 years ago, could not cross the border with their children.
"It was surprising and shocking to find out that the border gates were closed. We were told that we could cross the border on May 1," the two, who had come to India on March 27 to see their critically ill mother, said. Their brother, Mohammad Shariq, who came to see them off, said both sisters reside in Karachi and hold Indian passports.
A senior immigration official confirmed that no Pakistani national was able to cross the border on Thursday.
Adding to the chaos, a group of Pakistani labourers, most of them Hindus, waited at the border under orders to return. They had worked in Rajasthan and were told to leave India after the Pahalgam attack.
Ganesh, one of the workers, said, "We came for work, not trouble. Now we are being sent back to nothing. As minorities in Pakistan, our lives are harder than ever."
Local porters and a nearby gurdwara stepped in to provide langar, offering stranded families free meals and water.
The Pakistani govt had allowed nationals to cross the border until April 29, but by May 1, it had become clear that the gates would remain closed.
In contrast, Pakistan reportedly cleared Afghan trucks—stranded at transit points since April 25—to enter India. The Pakistan foreign ministry, in a statement, cited "brotherly relations" with Afghanistan for the exception.
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