Shaurya Chakra awardee's mother among 60 Pakistanis deported from J&K; family appeals to PM Modi to reconsider decision

Indo-Pak border

The Jammu and Kashmir authorities have initiated the deportation of 60 Pakistani nationals, including Shameema Akhtar, the mother of Shaurya Chakra recipient constable Mudasir Ahmad Shaikh, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The deportees, drawn from multiple districts across the Union Territory, were transported by bus to Punjab and are being handed over to Pakistani authorities at the Wagah border.

Of the 60 individuals being deported, 36 were residing in Srinagar, nine each in Baramulla and Kupwara, four in Budgam, and two in Shopian. Most of them are family members of former militants who had returned under the 2010 rehabilitation policy aimed at reintegrating militants who had crossed the border into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and wished to surrender and settle in India.

Shameema Akhtar, who is being deported along with others, had married Mohammad Maqsood, a retired police officer, decades ago, long before the insurgency began in 1990. Her son, Mudasir Ahmad Shaikh, was martyred in May 2022 while intercepting foreign terrorists in an undercover operation. He was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra, and his mother received the honour from President Droupadi Murmu in 2023.

Reacting to the deportation order, Mudasir’s uncle, Mohammad Younus, stated, “My sister-in-law is from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which we consider Indian territory. She has lived here for 45 years. Why deport her now?”

Younus added that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Lieutenant Governor had personally visited the family following Mudasir’s death. “We appeal to Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah to reconsider this decision,” Business Standard quoted him as saying.

As a tribute to Mudasir's bravery, the main square in Baramulla has been renamed “Shaheed Mudasir Chowk.”

The deportation follows the recent Pahalgam attack after which measures such as the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, the downgrading of diplomatic ties, and a directive requiring all Pakistanis on short-term visas to leave India by April 27 or face legal consequences were taken.