This bahu has been knocking at the doors of her sasuraal for decades now in vain. Only this is no ordinary bahu and neither is the sasuraal.
A Pakistani woman here is struggling to put her foot in India and settle down with her children. Amy Agnes D’Silva is tired but tough, confused but courageous to fight for her right for Indian citizenship.
The Pakistani married Indian Trevor Louis D’Silva on June 19, 1981 and is residing in Bahrain for the past 38 years. D’Silva had first submitted her application for an Indian passport following the marriage at the Indian mission here. But she claims, an embassy official turned down the application as he said- “the marriage would not last for five years.”
“I am like a fish out of water. My two sons are grown up and need to continue their education in India,” said D’Silva. Her three children hold Indian passports.
The Pakistani mother has filed several requests and applications to the Indian government to speed up the process of granting her citizenship. D’Silva said she had also sent a request to former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and foreign Ministry but received no response.
The ordeal continued for D’Silva who kept submitting applications for Indian citizenship which continued to be rejected on the grounds which she claims were never clear.
According to the Indian conditions, citizenship is granted if a person is a resident for 7 years. This condition is exempted if the marriage has subsisted for 7 years of the foreign wife or husband has visited India at least once. The irony of the fact is that D’Silva has fulfilled the above conditions and has visited India eight times.
A copy of her file (26105/309/2004-IC-2) addressed to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Indian capital states that she has no relatives in Pakistan. The mother has also appealed in her application to the Indian authorities to consider her case as special and settle down with her three children- “under one roof and one country.”
In 2006, the Pakistani lost her husband in Mumbai because of sickness. “I was going through tough times. My husband has a property in Mumbai and there needs to be someone to look after it. I have no relatives in Pakistan. There is no other place I can go now,” she said.
But problems kept piling for the widow who is now at crossroads of her life. Her residence permit to live and work in Bahrain expires in February next. Both her son are on her visa. She said her only hope was a long term visa from the Indian authorities to allow her to stay in the country.
D’Silva is also upset with the Indian embassy here which she claims has not taken her case seriously. In her last communication with the embassy this month, she said the officer verbally informed her that her citizenship application was rejected on the grounds- Husband no more.
“This is a lame excuse. I have all the documents from the marriage to the death certificate of my husband. I fulfilled all the requirements and have no clue where I went wrong. I request to the Indian government to consider my case as special as there is no one to look after my kids,” the Pakistani mother appealed.
While India continues to be enthralled by the saas -baahu saga and the craze also sweeping its neighbor Pakistan, the on screen animosity continues in real life.
By Sandeep Singh Grewal
The author is a Bahrain based independent journalist writes for various news organisations. He can be reached at sandy.media@gmail.com
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