• Home

Amnesty hope for Indian mom, Pakistani daughter

Alia’s husband, Mohammed Sadiq, a Pakistani national, died in Dubai in 2004 at the age of 49 following a cardiac arrest. At the time of their marriage in Hyderabad in 1999, she didn’t know Sadiq was a Pakistani, claims Alia.

“He had proposed marriage through an agent, who had told my family that Sadiq was a UAE national. I realised he was from Pakistan only after moving to Dubai with him on a housemaid visa,” she says. “My husband used to work in Dubai as a driver. After his death in 2004, I could not return to India as my UAE visa had expired and my daughter, Shama Sadiq, had a Pakistani passport. When she (Shama) was born, my husband had decided to take a Pakistani passport for her,” Alia narrates.

Illegal status

That’s how Alia became an illegal in the UAE. “For the past few years, I had been doing odd jobs to make both ends meet. No school was ready to give admission to my daughter as she didn’t have a valid visa. Neither could I afford to pay her school fees.”

After her husband’s death, Alia had all along been looking for an opportunity to return home. “When the amnesty was announced I was very happy as I could return to India with my child.” Talking of her husband, she says: “He was a nice person. However, two years after our marriage I found that he had a wife and children in Pakistan also. Still I decided to live with him.”

Her daughter’s Pakistani passport, however, has put Alia in a somewhat peculiar situation. “I approached the Indian mission and they said they would be providing a visa for my child to travel to India with me and I can apply for her nationality later after reaching India,” she adds. “I have already applied for an outpass. I’ll return to India as soon as I get my daughter’s visa from the Indian authorities,” she says.

Meanwhile, talking about Alia, B.S. Mubarak, spokesperson of the Indian Consulate, said: “We are looking into the matter. We have already offered a visa for her child. We are exploring other alternatives too.”

• UAE