Pahalgam terror attack fallout: Pakistani Hindu family taken from Hisar to Delhi camp

A day after the Centre gave Pakistani nationals 48 hours to leave the country after the Pahalgam terror attack, 15 members of a Hindu family from the neighbouring country who were staying at Balsamand village in Hisar district of Haryana for the past eight months were taken to a Pakistani camp in New Delhi on Thursday.

Balsamand police post in-charge Shesh Karan said over phone on Friday that Haryana Police personnel had taken the Pakistani Hindu family to Delhi for security reasons.

Though the Union government cancelled visas of all Pakistani citizens on Wednesday, the ministry of external affairs on Thursday clarified that the revocation did not apply to long-term visas issued to Hindu Pakistani nationals. “With reference to the Government of India’s decision to suspend visa services to Pakistani nationals, it is clarified that the revocation of visas does not apply to long-term visas (LTVs) issued to Hindu Pakistani nationals. These LTVs remain valid,” the ministry said in a release.

The family of 72-year-old Sobho, who goes by one name, had been staying at Balsamand for the past eight months. “Their visa expired on August 25 last year. Their plea to stay on was accepted by the government, following which their visa had been extended,” said a senior police officer from Hisar, requesting anonymity.

The Pakistani family was living in a room of a private hospital in the village and most members worked as farm labourers to make ends meet.

“The police escorted them from Balsamand to Delhi. Reports that the family’s visa had expired are false,” sub-inspector Shesh Karan said. He refused to share the duration of the validity of their visa.

According to officials, Balsamand resident Shamsher Singh had helped the Pakistani Hindu family shift to Balsamand from Jaisalmer last August.

“Shamsher and his Delhi-based friend Hari Om had been helping Pakistani Hindu families when their houses were demolished by the administration in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district in 2023. It’s there that they came in contact with Pakistani citizen Dayal Dass and he urged them to help Sobho and his family, who were facing harassment in Pakistan. Sobho along with 14 other members of his family applied for a visa in 2024 and came to India. Shamsher and Hari Om settled them in Balsamand,” the senior police officer said.