It has been six years of distressful wait for the relatives of the Kannur couple stuck in Karachi, facing the prospect of being deported to India without their two children born in Pakistan.
The story of the hapless Haneef Maranveetil from Panur who is held up in Karachi with his wife Aseena and their two children was carried in The Hindu on Friday. The story has turned the attention of the local media to the anguish of the families of the couple. The distress of the relatives continues despite their repeated representations to the authorities. Unless the Indian government issues passports to the two children, Haneef and Aseena may have to return without them.
“The government should intervene to bring my son, his wife and their two children back to the country,” says 70-year-old Thekkemaniyambath Ayisha who lives in her house as Makkoolpeedika near Panur. Although she is worried about the possibility of the Pakistani authorities deporting her son and daughter-in-law to India without their children, three-year-old Haseeb and 15-days-old Haseeba, she is hopeful that the Indian authorities will issue passports to them.
She said her husband, Abdulla, had gone to Karachi before Partition and started a cool drinks shop there. He had later started a hotel in Karachi. A Pakistani citizen, Abdulla died in 1992. Since Abdulla’s death, the hotel was run by his eldest son. Following his sibling’s death, the 36-year-old Haneef had left for Karachi in 2007 with his wife to dispose of the property.
“The deportation order issued by the Pakistani authorities means we will be sent back to India without our children unless they get their passport,” Haneefa told The Hindu over phone from Karachi. “We are living here literally in hiding as we have no visa,” he said. . Narrating his experience since he landed in Karachi, Haneef said the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had not been very helpful.
When contacted, Dirar Chirayakkunnen, Haneef’s father-in-law residing at Chittariparamba near Koothuparamba here, said the families of the couple had made representations to the Kannur MP, K. Sudhakaran, Minister of State for Home, Mullappally Ramachandran, and Agricultural Minister K.P. Mohanan, seeking their intervention to provide passports to the children. The MP and the Ministers extended all their assistance, he said, adding that the process of issuing passports to the children was getting delayed.
