Former militants’ Pakistani wives threaten self-immolation

Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 15: A day after a Pakistani woman set herself on fire in Naidkhai area of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district, scores of Pakistani wives of former militants who have returned home from Pakistan threatened self-immolation against the Government’s failure to recognize them as its citizens.
The women along with their children gathered at the Press Enclave and said that the Government has made fun of them.
Narrating their woeful tales, the women while shouting anti-Government slogans expressed concern about the future of their families and their identity.
“Our identity has been snatched as Government has failed to issue us ration cards, election cards and our children are not getting the admission in schools,” said Zeba Banoo, one of the women.
The Pakistani woman, Saira Bhat, 30, set herself on fire in Naidkhai area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. She was admitted to a Srinagar hospital where she succumbed to burn injuries.
Saira was the mother of three children. Her husband, Javaid Ahmad Bhat, had gone to Pakistan in 1993 to get weapons training but returned in 2012 homes. He had married Saira in Pakistan.
The fate of dozens of such families hangs in the balance since they have scant means of livelihood and even social unacceptability.
“We are surrendered militants for the people and worthless for the Government because they feel we have outlived our publicity value,” said a former militant whose wife was among the protesters.

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