Inserts:

00:03 Report / Adil Bhat & Sharique Ahmad 
00:32 Muhammad Shahbaz/ Delhi resident
00:49 Erum / Deported to Pakistan
01:04 April 2025
01:43 Erum / Deported to Pakistan
02:41 Muhammad Shahbaz / Delhi Resident 
03:40 Muhammad Shahbaz / Delhi Resident 

Script:

Script  

ATMO “Why are you crying, son?” 

00:03
Moments like this have become part of daily life for this family. 

Muhammad Shahbaz is on a video call with his wife, Erum, who was deported to Pakistan following the deadly attack in Kashmir in April this year. 

It’s now the only way the family comes together - through a screen. 

And their 9-year-old son, Almeer, is bearing the weight of that separation. 

00:27
+++ SOT (Hindi)  Muhammad Shahbaz, Delhi resident  
“How is this our fault? You tell me, what is our role in the tragedy that happened in Kashmir. What has this child done wrong?  Our child is being punished for that incident. My son is being deprived of his parents, his family.” 

00:40
Erum now lives in Pakistan, separated from her husband and child for the past eight months. 

+++ SOT Erum ( Hindi) Deported to Pakistan  
“I am just surviving. I pass my time day by day. My life has no meaning.  A mother’s child is  the centre of her life. I can’t express my emotions in words.

01:03
In April, extremists killed 26 civilians in the Indian part of the disputed Kashmir region. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, accusing its neighbour of sponsoring cross-border terrorism.  

As part of its response, Delhi cancelled the visas of almost all Pakistani citizens and gave them just days to leave. 

Families scrambled to comply. And emotional scenes like this unfolded at the main land-crossing between the two countries. 

Shahbaz captured on video the last moments at the border, before Erum was separated from him and their son. 

01:42
+++ SOT ( Hindi)  Erum , Deported to Pakistan  
“The moment I left my son ((at the border)) I could not understand anything, ((and)) I felt numb. ((I asked myself)) why we have to be separated like this. I just could not understand why.

01:52
At home, Shahbaz walks us through memories of a life they once shared. 

They got married in 2014. Erum came from Pakistan to India on a long-term visa, and they built a home together. 

In March 2020, Erum travelled to Pakistan to visit her family. Days later, the COVID lockdowns closed the borders. Her Indian visa expired while she was away in Pakistan. 

For five years, Shahbaz kept applying for a new Indian visa for his wife - but every request was rejected. Then, in April this year, the approval finally came. 

Erum returned to Delhi on April 17. 

Just twelve days later, after the Kashmir attack, she was ordered to leave India again. 

02:40
+++ SOT ( Hindi)  Muhammad Shahbaz, Delhi Resident  
When you meet your wife after such a long time and then are separated again - you cannot imagine that pain. Sometimes you can’t explain it in words. I wouldn't want to wish this on anyone”  

02:51
For Shahbaz, the hardship doesn’t end there. 

He says any association with Pakistan attracts suspicion in a country that views its neighbour as an enemy state. 

And for his son, that suspicion has real consequences. 

03:04
+++ SOT (Hindi)  Muhammad Shahbaz, Delhi Resident
“I’ve been trying to get my kid admitted to school. But at both government-run or private schools, as soon as they learn of my son’s Pakistani family background, they get scared and then say they’re sorry, ((but they can’t give him a place at school)).”

03:16
For months now, Shahbaz has been visiting government offices, meeting officials, trying to find a way to bring his wife back. So far, he says, all efforts have been in vain. 

DW asked India’s Home Ministry whether there are plans to allow families to reunite, but there has been no response so far. 

03:37
+++ SOT (Hindi)  Muhammad Shahbaz, Delhi Resident
“There are families worse off than us. My son has grown up. Some have infants separated from their mothers. They are somehow surviving.

03:18
At his local mosque, Shahbaz and his son say a prayer. 

For Erum’s return - and for the hundreds of other families hoping to be re-united with their loved ones in India.