• Source:JND

Pakistan has decided to deport Sarabjit Kaur, a 52-year-old Sikh pilgrim from Punjab who converted to Islam and married a Pakistani man while visiting the country, officials said on Monday. Kaur, a resident of Kapurthala, had gone to Pakistan in November last year as part of a Sikh jatha to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, but failed to return with the group, triggering concern among Indian authorities and her family.

Kaur was expected to be repatriated to India on Monday, but the process was delayed due to documentation issues. Officials said she is now likely to return on Tuesday. The Sikh jatha she had travelled with returned to India on November 13.

The case has drawn legal and political attention in Pakistan. Mahinder Pal Singh, a former Punjab Assembly member in Pakistan, filed a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking Kaur’s repatriation, arguing that the issuance of a single-entry visa to her was illegal and had complicated her return.

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Converted To Islam

According to Pakistani authorities, Kaur left the Sikh jatha shortly after arriving in Pakistan and went to Farooqabad in Sheikhpura district with a Pakistani man she had allegedly been in contact with for several years. She later converted to Islam, changed her name to Noor Hussain, and married Nasir Hussain, a resident of the area.

A Pakistan police official told PTI that Kaur married Nasir Hussain a day after her arrival in Pakistan on November 4 and declared that she had converted to Islam and married of her own free will. On November 18, the couple approached the Lahore High Court, alleging that police were pressuring them to annul the marriage and had conducted illegal raids at their home.

Kaur has maintained that her conversion and marriage were voluntary. In a video statement that went viral on social media, she said she had known Nasir Hussain for nine years, was divorced, and had willingly chosen to marry him. “I love Nasir and have known him for the past nine years. I am currently divorced and willingly marrying him,” she said, adding that she had contacted the Indian mission to explore the possibility of obtaining Pakistani citizenship.

An 18-second video purportedly showing the couple’s nikah has also circulated widely in Pakistani media, in which Kaur is heard reiterating that she converted to Islam of her own free will. Despite her claims, Pakistani authorities have now moved to deport her to India, citing visa and legal constraints.

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