Pahalgam terror attack: After 43 years in India, two sisters set to return to Pakistan amid tensions
Written By Navya Beri
Published: May 01, 2025, 08:51 IST | Updated: May 01, 2025, 08:51 IST
Story highlights
India news: “They had come here as new brides, and they have spent their entire lives here. Sending them back now is like uprooting a fruit-bearing tree,” said one of their relatives.
Two real sisters residing in India's Rajouri prepared to return to Pakistan amid heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad after the Pahalgam terror attack, where terrorists opened fire on civilians and killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
These sisters had been living in India for the past 43 years, having married their cousins in Rajouri and settled there permanently.
Their relatives said that the sisters came to India as new brides, they built their families here, raised children and became an integral part of the society.
“They had come here as new brides, and they have spent their entire lives here. Sending them back now is like uprooting a fruit-bearing tree,” said one of their relatives.
The family made an appeal to the administration for intervention on humanitarian grounds.
Twenty-two members of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, including three diplomats, came back to India via the Attari–Wagah border, sources told WION on Wednesday (Apr 30).
In the first phase, one Indian diplomat and eight staff members, along with two family members, crossed into India through Wagah on Tuesday (Apr 29).
The second group included two more diplomats, 11 staff members, and two additional family members, all of whom departed earlier today.
The Indian High Commission, according to the sources, is operating on a reduced scale as precautionary measures are being enforced amid fears of further escalation.
Also Read: Pahalgam terror attack: Pakistan javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem's Instagram account blocked in India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (April 29) gave "complete operational freedom" to the Armed Forces to respond to Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people.
PM Modi chaired a high-level security meeting at his residence on Tuesday, which was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, and Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh.
He gave a green signal to the Indian armed forces to decide the mode, timing, and target of India's response to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam's Baisaran meadow.
He further reaffirmed that it is our "national resolve to deal a crushing blow to terrorism."