Pakistani Hindu family returns home from India via Wagah

ISLAMABAD: A 24-member Pakistani Hindu family returned to Pakistan through the Wagah border on Monday after spending about two years in India, saying they had faced hardship and discriminatory treatment during their stay there.

The family belongs to Sanghar district in Sindh and had been living in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, before coming back to Pakistan.

The family had moved to India in the hope of finding better living conditions. Family head Rano said he had travelled there with his wife, children, two married sons and their families.

After returning, Rano told reporters that the family ran into difficulties in everyday life because they were identified as Pakistanis. He said they faced problems while trying to get children admitted to schools, obtain ration supplies and receive medicines from government dispensaries.

Rano also said that after tensions between Pakistan and India intensified last year, Pakistani nationals in India came under greater suspicion from police, security personnel and extremist groups. He alleged that some Pakistani citizens were also accused of espionage.

Family expresses relief on return

Members of the family said they were relieved and happy to be back in Pakistan, describing their return to their homeland as a source of comfort.

Most of the family members were children. Their appearance and clothing reflected financial hardship.

Movement across the Pakistan-India border has remained restricted over the past year. The Wagah border has largely been opened only on specific occasions during this period.

The family’s return comes amid continued limits on cross-border travel between the two countries. Their account highlighted the difficulties they said they experienced while living in India after relocating from Sindh in search of a better future.

Rano’s remarks to reporters after crossing back into Pakistan centred on the obstacles the family said it encountered in accessing basic services and navigating daily life. He linked those difficulties to their Pakistani identity and said the situation worsened after bilateral tensions rose last year.

The family arrived back in Pakistan together, ending a stay in Ahmedabad that had begun two years earlier. Their return through Wagah took place on a day when border movement remained otherwise limited, in line with the broader restrictions that have remained in place over the past year.