Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cases involving Indian passport-holding women in Madhya Pradesh whose children are born in Pakistan are turning into long-drawn affairs, as clearance in such situations often takes a significant amount of time.
MP Police has written to the Union government seeking guidance on handling these sensitive cases. The final decision, however, rests with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
A senior officer at the Police Headquarters said that such cases are legally and diplomatically complex. “Unless the Pakistani Ministry of External Affairs provides clearance, Indian women with Pakistani-born children cannot be sent back. In the meantime, we have written a letter to the Centre seeking guidance, but we haven’t received any response yet,” he said.
The issue has come into sharper focus after the Indian government revoked 14 categories of Pakistani visas. Following this decision, MP Police has been actively identifying Pakistani nationals residing illegally or with expired documents in cities across the state. Recently, four such persons were identified in Indore and were served with exit notices.
However, during this ongoing verification drive, the police also stumbled upon several cases where Indian-born women—who had married Pakistani nationals and settled in Pakistan—returned to India on Indian passports, but their children are Pakistani nationals. These women are now stuck in limbo due to the lack of clear policy on whether their children can stay with them or be repatriated.
“In Bhopal, we have at least one such case. In Jabalpur, there are a couple more. These women are Indian by birth and hold valid Indian passports, but their children are considered foreign nationals under current rules,” the officer said.
With no clear policy on how to handle such cases, the state police are left in a dilemma, awaiting a directive from the Centre that could help resolve these humanitarian and legal concerns.
