India is my home, don’t want to go back to Pak

Lucknow: With only a day to go before the Uttar Pradesh government deports the “last” Pakistani citizen, Islamabad native Maryam on Tuesday made a frantic appeal to the Centre to stay on in the state with her Indian husband.

It is so far unclear whether Maryam, who holds a short-term visa, is the last Pakistani left in Uttar Pradesh to be “expelled” under the Centre’s orders after the Pahalgam terror attack. Maryam’s appeal comes at a time when Uttar Pradesh, according to an official statement, became the first state to achieve almost 100 per cent repatriation of Pakistani nationals within 24 hours, with only one remaining to be deported.

The state government did not mention the exact number of Pakistani citizens sent back or their visa details (short-term or long-term). It also did not specify who the last Pakistani citizen left to be deported on April 30.

Maryam got married to Amir, a resident of Khurja in Bulandshahr district, three years ago. The Pakistani woman has been living in Khurja since she received her short-term visa two months ago.