Pak nationals in Raj rush to meet visa deadline amid security measures

Jaipur/Jodhpur/Jaisalmer: Seventy six Pakistani nationals, most of them Muslims who had come to visit their relatives in Rajasthan, left the country from the Attari-Wagah border Sunday, Jodhpur's Foreigners Registration Officer Narpat Singh Rathore said. An additional 20 Pak nationals also left from other bordering districts in Rajasthan including Jaisalmer, Barmer, Phalodi, Bikaner and Balotra, taking the total number of departures on Sunday to 96.

Speaking to TOI, Rathore said, "Some minority Pakistani nationals — mainly Hindus — who had either come to meet family or were hoping to apply for permanent residency but could not, were also among the group that departed for Pakistan". Rathore added that approximately 14,000 Hindu migrants are currently residing in Jodhpur on LTVs, with many more awaiting approvals after submitting their paperwork.

Security agencies reported that 20 Pakistani nationals from districts near the Rajasthan's borders left on Sunday. This included 7 from Jaisalmer, 6 from Barmer, 4 from Bikaner, two from Phalodi and one from Balotra.

DIG, CID (Jodhpur Zone), Ajay Singh, said, "These citizens were directed to cross the Indian border via Attari before midnight on Sunday," Singh said, adding that no departures were recorded from Pali, Sirohi, and Jalore districts as no Pakistani nationals were present there according to govt records.

In the last two days, many Pakistani nationals who arrived recently have lined up at e-Mitra centres to submit LTV applications. Dilip Sodha, owner of an e-Mitra centre in Jaisalmer, told TOI, "In the past 24 hours, around 850 Pakistani nationals successfully submitted their LTV applications at three e-Mitra centres. With a few hours still remaining before the deadline ends, I am hopeful the number will cross 1,000."

District authorities in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, and Bikaner remained on high alert Sunday evening as the deadline set by the Union govt for Pakistani nationals on short-term visas to leave India came to an end. Only Pakistani nationals on Long Term Visas (LTV) or those who have applied for LTVs before the deadline were granted exemptions. Around 1,500 to 1,700 Pakistani nationals had arrived in Rajasthan over the last three months.