3 Pak brides take oath as Indians

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“In the name of Allah I swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of India and fulfill my duties as a citizen of India.” That is the solemn oath Tahira Zahoor took on Wednesday morning to become an Indian citizen.

Tahira is among three Pakistani brides who had to wait over a decade to be officially accepted in the country of their spouses, and finally, when they did manage to find their through the confounding tangle of India’s bureaucratic red tape, the oath ceremony was a simple, quiet affair in the office of Gurdaspur’s deputy commissioner Prithi Chand.
“We were engaged in 1999 and the nikah was performed the following year. But the excitement of being married very soon gave way to a harrowing three years when we could not even see each other. You see, the war in Kargil broke out, and officialdom in both countries made it virtually impossible for commoners like us to travel across the border,” said Maqbool Ahmad, who eventually met his bride when she took the bus to Amritsar and on to her husband’s home at Qadian Town in 2003.
But once again, the joy of their reunion was shortlived. Technically still a citizen of Pakistan, Tahira’s movements in India were severely restricted and for seven interminable years she wasn’t permitted to leave the confines of Qadian.
Like Maqbool’s bride, for Mubina Kanwal and Arifa Hameed, also married to grooms from Qadian in 1998 and 2000 respectively, the small town remained the only face of their adopted country.
Incidentally, all the three Pakistani women are by now mothers, and their children are Indians by birth. In fact Tahira and Maqbool have three kids — two very bright young daughters and an infant son, Maghroor, who arrived last New Year’s Eve to complete their happy family.
The oath ceremony on Wednesday morning brought Tahira, Arifa and Mubina within sight of finally being accepted. Under the law, the Union home ministry must approve and publish their names as citizens based on verification and clearance by the senior superintendent of police at Batala.
Back in Qadian, though, two despondent mothers quietly watched the rejoicing in the homes of their sisters. Abida Begum and Talat Munir, who arrived as brides over 20 years ago, failed to cut through the suspicion and distrust between India and Pakistan. Their applications for Indian citizenship are still pending.
“Abida has been here for 28 years! She even has a married daughter. But the babus have always found a way to turn down her papers,” said Maqbool Ahmad.