Barmer bridegroom headed to Pak for cross-border wedding, sent back from Attari
The wedding, scheduled for April 30, was disrupted when the baraat reached the Wagah-Attari border on Thursday and was denied entry into Pakistan
Following the Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam which has deteriorated India-Pakistan relations, a much-awaited cross-border wedding has been stalled, dashing the hopes of a family from Rajasthan’s Barmer district. The wedding, scheduled for April 30, was disrupted when the baraat (wedding procession) reached the Wagah-Attari border on Thursday and was denied entry into Pakistan, forcing them to return home.
25-year-old groom, Shaintan Singh, a resident of Rajasthan’s Barmer, was engaged four years ago to Kesar Kanwar, a resident of Amarkot district in Pakistan’s Sindh province. The engagement was arranged according to traditional customs, common in border regions where communities on both sides share deep cultural and familial ties.
Since the engagement, Singh’s family had struggled to secure visas to travel to Pakistan to finalise marriage. After three years of persistent efforts, navigating bureaucratic delays and diplomatic hurdles, the family received visa clearance on February 18. With renewed hope, they set the wedding date for April 30, well within the visa validity period, which was to expire on May 12.
However, just before the wedding procession could cross into Pakistan, fresh diplomatic tensions erupted following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives. In response, India suspended visa services for Pakistani nationals and revoked all previously issued visas, advising Pakistani citizens in India to leave by April 27. Similarly, India urged its citizens in Pakistan to return. As a result, Singh’s wedding procession was stopped at the Wagah-Attari border and sent back to Barmer.
The groom’s family expressed their disappointment at the entire incident.
“We waited for years and followed every legal process, but now everything is uncertain.”
Speaking to HT, Singh said he felt completely helpless.
“After years of waiting and all the struggles we went through to make this wedding happen, it feels like everything has come to a halt. We were so close, but now I don’t know what will happen next. I feel totally helpless at this stage”, he said.
