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| Wednesday, 11 August 2004 |
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Indian mother hopes for nationality award after birth ISLAMABAD, Tuesday (Reuters) An Indian woman fighting for Pakistani citizenship after marrying a Pakistani said she hoped that the recent birth of a baby boy would help her cause. Hafsa Khan, a 25-year-old doctor from the Indian state of Kerala, gave birth to her first child, a baby boy, on August 3, about 10 days ahead of her due date. "I am very excited," Hafsa told Reuters. "I hope it will have a positive impact on my case. Let's hope for the best," she added by telephone from Hoti, a village on the outskirts of Mardan, some 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Islamabad where she lives with her in-laws. Hafsa married Aman Khan in August last year, but Pakistan's interior ministry rejected Aman Khan's request to grant citizenship to his wife and ordered her to leave the country when her visa expired in March. The case reflects more than 50 years of hostility between Pakistan and India, despite a fledgling peace process formally launched in January aimed at settling their differences, most crucially the dispute over divided Kashmir. Aman challenged the interior ministry order in the high court in the northwestern city of Peshawar and secured a stay. Aman said the interior ministry later extended her visa until September 19, the same day when the high court is due to take up his petition An ethnic Pashtun, he vowed never to leave his wife and son, even if the government failed to grant citizenship. "If they can't give nationality as well as security, then they should deport all of us," he said. |
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