Anju, a married woman from Kailor, Uttar Pradesh, visits Pakistan to get married to her lover Nasrullah. They met on Facebook about four years ago.
While the highest judiciary in India deliberates on the fate of Seema Haider in the country, Pakistan is witnessing a reverse run of the same incident. Anju,35, has traveled to meet her lover, Nasrullah in Upper Dir of the scenic Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Unlike Seema Haider (who crossed the border illegally) Anju has a proper visa for visiting the Upper Dir district which shares a border with Afghanistan.
The similarity between both incidents has alerted Pakistani agencies. They are investigating the matter.
Anju and Nasrullah’s love story began on Facebook. According to the news report by Pakistan’s local news organization Aaj News, both of them became Facebook friends. Gradually their friendship blossomed into love.
Anju arrived at Dir Bala on Friday. She visited the local police station to show the authorities if her documents were in order. An Indian citizen must get his/her travel documents verified after arriving in Pakistan. In an interrogation with the officials, she informed them that she is in love with the 29-year-old and “cannot live without him”.
The SHO of Upper Dir police station said that Anju has a visa and she has legally entered Pakistan. She traveled through Wagah to Islamabad and arrived at Dir Bala on Friday morning.
Anju is married.
BBC Hindi has discovered that Anju has been married since 2007 to one Arvind Kumar. They have two children together. Arvind told BBC Hindi that her wife had left for Jaipur on July 21 from their current residence at Bhiwandi, Rajasthan. It was only on the evening of 23rd July when Arvind asked his wife to return home owing to the deteriorating health conditions of their son that he learned that she was in Pakistan.
Arvind Kumar and Anju both work in private companies in Rajasthan. At this moment, Mr. Kumar doesn’t have any plans to file a police complaint.
Anju- Nasrullah’s wedding
On the other hand, Nasrullah claims that Anju and he would be getting engaged in the following couple of days. He claims to have his family’s support. The family also seems to be aware of Anju’s first marriage.
After their engagement, Anju is going to return home and then revisit Pakistan for her wedding. The couple is unhappy with the media intervention. Anju did not want to give an interview to the BBC Urdu as she believes it would hamper her private job.
The locals in Dir Bala are happy with her visit. Local politician Faridullah told BBC Urdu that Anju could stay with them as long as she wants to. He added that she is now a visitor as well as the daughter-in-law of the Paktuns.
Getting a visa was difficult for Anju
It was difficult for Anju to obtain a visa for her visit to Dir Bala, a remote border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both countries generally offer visas to each other’s citizens restricting them to visit only a few cities.
Anju and Nasrullah sincerely kept on trying to meet all the requirements for arranging her visit. They did not lose courage. Anju kept on visiting the Pakistani Embassy in Delhi whereas Nasrullah frequented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad.
Their efforts seem to have been finally fruitful. Their love and thousands of rupees spent on visa applications finally convinced the officials. The law abiding route taken by Anju will probably save her from facing a media trial that Seema Haider is currently been subjected to.
How is Seema Haider’s case similar to Anju’s?
30-year-old Seema Haider met her now husband Sachin Meena (22) while both of them were playing a game of PUBG in 2019-20. Their friendship deepened after chatting through WhatsApp and Instagram. Seema took the ultimate step toward love and eloped. She entered India with her four kids illegally. She claims to have been converted to Hinduism and has appealed to the Supreme Court for Indian citizenship. Seema Haider believes that she and her four children would not be a burden on India. Both Sachin and Seema appear to be deeply in love. The couple has angered both the supporters of Hindutva and radical Islam. According the the extremists of both the sections, Seema Haider should be deported back to Pakistan.
